This was the first 5k for all of us. We signed up in March and even rearranged vacation time to get this one in. There were two of us in the 50-59 age group and three of us in the 20-29 age group. Seth had to sit this one out due to injury. We lightly trained, compared to others, but it’s a start. Brian and I have walked for years now, him more than me, but we both started adding a little jogging to prepare for this. 🏃♀️🏃 No sense in going all out and risking an injury.
We stepped out of the car this morning at Huber’s, and my first thought was, I hope I don’t die during this. It was already hot (81°) and very humid. 🥵 We are used to walking/jogging earlier in the morning when it’s at least ten degrees cooler. Knowing I’m always hydrated and had been preparing, we were ready.
We took a few minutes to get some pictures at the starting line.
Here we go. After the singing of the National Anthem and a few reminders, it was time to go. Note about the National Anthem real quick: they asked for volunteers, and this lady stepped up and completely knocked it out of the park. I did get really nervous at the point, but this only lasted about two seconds, because they started the run. About halfway, I started feeling like I was getting a bad headache. A little past that, there was a water station. I drank about half of my water but poured the other half on my head. 💦 I believe this is what helped me get to the finish line. My head stopped hurting and I was able to continue switching between jogging and walking, and even managed to snap a couple pictures. Around the time of the pictures, I noticed that people were starting to get sick or overheated on the sides of the road. I’m positive putting the water in my head is what kept me from being one of them. 🚿 I loved that others were checking on each other and passing along positive comments to other participants. We definitely felt like we were part of a community where everybody’s end goal was the same. It was very heart warming. When we got to the end, Jenna, who beat us to the finish line, and Seth, who came to support us, were cheering us on. I’m going to say that Brian could have totally done this with a much faster time, but we did this together, and that was nice.
We made it! We finished!! 🎉 I knew they all would, but I was seriously doubting myself. I knew my fastest practicing 5k time was 56:41 before this. I was hoping to beat that, but after seeing the terrain and feeling the temperature, I just wanted to make it to the end, Well, when I get to the end, I find out that my time was 54:03. ⏰ That’s right, I shaved 2:38 off my previous fastest time. I also realize that I came in 40th out of the 86 women in my age group. Where I placed meant absolutely nothing to me, but I had convinced myself I would be last, so naturally I got a little teary eyed.
Even though this was a wine run, we had to leave and didn’t get our tumbler, or the wine. All the signs talking about it were funny though.
Today was a reminder to get out there and do the things that cause self-doubt. As our family’s health is a constant work in progress, this event was very motivating. We all said we want to do more of these, but can we wait until it’s cooler. 😝 😅
Thank you, Jenna for having us sign up and being there for us. Thank you, Seth for coming to cheer us on.
I wish I'd known you guys were planning this! I ran several (many?) years ago and want to get back into it, but it's hard starting out. Let's do the Derby Triple Crown next year! I know it sounds intimidating, but with consistent training and others to encourage us, we can do it! That's how I did it before - I did the half-marathon.