25 Things before 25: Run a 5K

Running a 5 kilometer race was one of the things on my list of 25 things that I was a bit scared of.  I know for a lot of people 3.1 miles is no big deal, but for me that's the furthest I have ever run in my entire life.  I went into it just aiming to a) finish, b) not walk, or walk absolutely as little as possible and c) get under 33 minutes if possible.  I had been training at an 11:33 pace, so I figured I could probably push myself and just squeak in under 33 minutes.




When I woke up in the morning, I looked outside, only to find a dusting of snow.  Upon checking the race website, however, it wasn't cancelled, so I resigned myself to having to run after all.  I registered and got my number and my free t-shirt.  Unfortunately, I don't own any proper cold weather running clothes so I had to put my shirt over my jacket, which soon became stifling once I started running.













Off we all went.  I had to keep pushing myself not to start walking, and I actually accomplished all three of my goals!  I finished with a time of 32:45, which is a pace of 10:33 miles!  After I finished I felt really awful, which I guess means I truly did the best I could have done.  Here I am after I recovered enough to not look like I was dying anymore.

In retrospect, it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be, but I don't know how soon I'll do another one.  I really felt bad after, like I was going to vomit and/or faint, and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.  Anyways, it certainly was a challenge to myself to really work hard and not give up.  And I do feel really good that I achieved my goals in this segment of my bucket-list!

I was ranked 1233rd overall, out of 1838 participants, and I was 78th in my division (females ages 20-24).


Until next time!

Lauren