I finished a 5k race today, and I sure am proud of myself!

In January, I took on Laura’s challenge to run 500 miles in 2010, and I never knew it would lead me down the path to running a 5k race, but it did! I was SO nervous last night that I could hardly sleep, and also I have had a cold the last few days so I was worried that I wouldn’t be running with all of the strength I would normally have when well. However, I woke up this morning and I felt pretty good but I was ready to RUN!! :o)-

My mom went with us to help take some pictures and to help Jeremi with the kids. Here we are after parking… I was really nervous here!!

Here I am before I left to get in line… When I ran the race I must say the first half mile I was really nervous, but after that I relaxed and finally I enjoyed the run. I had purchased some new music for my iTouch so I tried to focus on that and just my breathing. It was also really hard to run at first because there were so many people and some would slow down, cut in front of you or stop to a walk. Once I got past a mile it was not as crowded and I only had maybe 10 people along side of me at once and I started to enjoy the scenery more. We ran right past the Muny, then we ran around the Jewel Box, back past the Muny and then we were done! They were giving out water at one point on a table and I passed it, but I really should have grabbed a cup because I was really dehydrated by the end of the race. I just never drink water while I am running on the treadmill so I thought I would be ok but I didn’t factor in the humidity or just that I was outside. Unfortunately, they did not have anymore water tables set up after that one, so I lost my chance at some water. Luckily there was a nice breeze and I didn’t get too hot, but I remember after crossing the finish line and stopping it felt like it was 95 degrees outside for a few minutes! Of course I drank a ton of water before stretching after I finished the race. I must say, I am hooked, I will be running another 5k sometime soon… but, I definitely have a lot of work to do before I will be able to run a 10k. I must say I was amazed at how many kids were running the 5k, too, with their Mom or Dad! And there were parents with jogging strollers pushing two kids up the hills and I was just amazed… My mom said she saw a couple of people throw up after the race in the trashcans out front, one of them finished in 18 minutes! Ick!

I finished the 8:00 race in 32 minutes, 24 seconds with a pace of 9’22” per mile.

Here I am after the race, I was SO thirsty!!!! Thankfully, Jeremi had a water bottle ready for me. (And, no, there wasn’t Bud Light in it!)

Auttie slept during the race

Nathan and I getting ready for his 1/4 mile race…

Finish line!! Nathan finished at around 4 minutes, 12 seconds, but that may not be perfectly exact. I will admit, we did do a little walking a couple of times, but he did run for most of it. Some of the parents were really competitive, I was amazed… for instance, one boy fell down, pretty good… and his Dad picked him up by the arm and told him keep going! Nathan really enjoyed it and he got a ribbon! Yay, Nathan!