5k

This past Saturday, Casey and I both did something that we have never done before...we ran a 5K. We got up bright and early Saturday morning to run in the Dash Down Greenville which is before the big St. Patty's Day Parade. I had been training on a treadmill so I knew it would be quite the change to run outside with wind and everything. Also, the farthest I had ever run was 2 miles. Casey and I agreed that we would run it individually so we could see what our best times were. As soon as we crossed that start line, Casey was off. It was kind of like in odl cartoons where the roadrunner takes off and the coyote is left in a cloud of smoke...that's how I felt. The first mile went by really fast. There was a station passing out beer at the mile marker which reminded me I was running in a St. Patty's day race and made me warry of grabbing any future cups along the race route. At 1.5 miles, I saw the biggest challenge yet, a very steep hill. Since when do they put hills in Texas? I set the goal for myself to not stop running up the hill. I can proudly say that I achieved that goal. However, achieving that goal was at the detriment to my pace and my legs. Once at the top, I felt like I was going to throw up and that my legs were made out of jello. I tired to run again but I was running so slow that people running with strollers were passing me. Talk about a blow to the ego! I'm pretty sure one group of guys had a mini keg in their stroller too. When I eventually made the final turn and could see the Krispy Kreme sign (which is where the race began) in sight, I began to pick up my pace to a slow sprint because Casey told me I should do a"runner's kick" like professional racers and I could shave 30 seconds off my time. Well apparently the Krispy Kreme was a lot further than it had appeared because my kick was dying before I saw the finish line. I did finish the race in 39 minutes and was proud of myself. I definitely need to kick-up the training for the warrior dash because running up mud hills, swimming in swamps, and running up bales of hay will definitely kick my butt if I don't.