I'm so proud of myself. For some people reading this my "great accomplishment" might be really mundane but I don't care!!
This past Saturday (Aug 7th) I participated in the Smyrna Parks & Recreation 5k Challenge. I was so nervous beforehand. Not that I was worried about the distance as I've done a few 5ks; I was worried about my progress.
First of all, the next race I enter I really want someone there with me. I felt so all alone. I had to get someone to take my pic for me and I didn't have time to take my tshirt to the car so I tied it around my homemade racing belt. Nevertheless, I felt like a real contender when I tied my timing chip onto my shoestrings. I lined up about a 1/4 of the way down the "line" because I didn't want to hinder the runners. I knew going into it that I would walk my first mile.
The gun fired and. . .everyone shot out like jets. Seriously, I was passed by an 80 yr old (looked like it anyway), a 9 year old and a dude pushing a stroller while running. But I kept my focus and paced myself. People in front of me were jogging and stopping and I was tempted to jog. I was tempted to look behind me and see how far back I was in the pack. But I kept hearing a voice saying "Don't worry about what's behind you. Keep moving forward towards the goal."
When I rounded mile 1 I saw the timing clock and couldn't believe my eyes. I completed the first mile in less than 15 mins! Oh Boy!! I felt like running for real then, so I let myself jog about a 1/4 of a mile (okay, maybe less). For my last two miles I combined walking and jogging. My final time was 48:43 with an overall pace of 15:43.
I am so excited!! I've been training at 17.5-18.0 min mile so to have completed my first mile in under 16 mins was so awesome.
Today I'm on schedule for 6.5 miles on my long walk. There is a heat advisory so I'm wondering if I should take a step back and just do 4 miles. I'm revamping my schedule next weekend and doing my long walks on Saturday mornings, so I won't feel to bad about stepping it back today. Think I'll play it by ear and see how it feels out there.
Oh yeah, I've also been able to raise $45 to help me pay for the Half Marathon registration of $95. This racing/competing thing is not cheap. The 15k is like $55 and the 5k in Savannah is $28. But, I feel like a million bucks, baby!!!
FEMALE AGE GROUP: 30 - 34
BIB GUN CHIP
PLACE O'ALL NO. NAME AGE TIME TIME PACE
21 398 135 JENITA LAWAL 33 49:11 48:43 15:43
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