5k Recap

I did it! I ran my first 5k. Well, to say I "ran" it is rather generous. It reminded me a little of child birth - harder than I expected and I hated it during, but felt amazing afterwards and can't wait to do it again. A few things I learned after running my first 5k:

If you catch the guy in the turkey suit, you get $25. Next year, Turkey Dude...

• Anyone can do it. There were people of all shapes, sizes, and age there. And I was amazed (and a bit depressed) by the amount of old people and kids that kept passing me. Using that as fuel for the next one...
• If the race is outside, you need to run outside to prepare for it. Running inside on the treadmill was 100 times more convenient for me, but running outside is very different. Especially when there are hills involved.
• Hanging out with people is very fun before and after the race, but I need to run alone. My friend offered to stay with me during the entire race, but we lost each other in the crowd at the beginning. And I was thankful. I knew I'd slow her down big time and I just wanted to focus on finishing without feeling guilty for being so s-l-o-w. It was nice to have her there at the finish line cheering me on to the end as well. :)
• You will start off too fast, no matter what you do to prevent it. I had my playlist all cued up, but ignored it as I chugged along with the crowd, then couldn't figure out why the first mile was so hard. I ran it in 12 minutes - a minute and a half faster than my usual pace! That would have been great if I didn't have two more miles to go...

Overall, I loved the experience. My main goal was to finish in 46 minutes and my time was 43:28. I'm very happy with it! But still lots of room for improvement.

Now I'm just working on getting myself back into a routine. I'm taking a brief break from the treadmill. I'm hoping absence makes the heart grow fonder, but we'll see.

So what have YOU accomplished lately?