First Race Recap!

This past Saturday, April 3rd, I participated in my very first 5K running race! It was held at the Ajax Rotary Park right at Lake Ontario. So I literally ran along the lake for the 2010 Run By The Lake. The weather was perfect, the course was perfect… everything about the morning was perfect!!!

C and I woke up at about 6:15 that morning and after a cup of coffee and a piece of toast with peanut butter and 1/2 a banana, we were on our way to Ajax.  My stomach was literally turning the whole drive because I was so nervous! Thank goodness C was with me and was able to keep me calm.  We arrived at the race site nice and early so I had a chance to scope out the area, the competition, and most importantly, had time to pee. 😉

We basically just hung around for a bit while the walkers headed out onto the course and then the time came.. “All 5K runners, follow me to the starting line!”  C and I said our goodbye’s and off I went on my own with the crowd.  It’s hard to even describe the whole experience. In a way it was sort of surreal! I mean, I’ve been working all on my own since mid-January for this very moment!!!  As we stood at the starting line, the countdown started… “3 minutes to go! …… 2 minutes to go! ….. 1 minute to go! ….. 30 seconds! ….. 10! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! GO!!!!!!”

After doing all of my training on my own, it was so different running with all of these people around me!  For the first 5 minutes or so, I basically had to adjust my pace so that I was going with the flow.  I’m guessing it was about the 5 minute mark when finally most of the pack had gotten ahead of me and I was pretty much on my own.  Although it did look bad to me seeing the majority of the pack ahead, I knew not to let it bother me. I had done my training and knew the pace I had to keep so that I could RUN THE WHOLE THING. It wasn’t long until we hit the first hill and I soon passed the first little bunch of people who had passed me at the start because they decided to walk up the hill while I just kept plugging along at my running pace.  Throughout the whole race I continued with my same pace and started passing more people and then more!  I started seeing hills as my little challenge/opportunity!  So many people were walking up hills, but I continued to tell myself that I will NOT walk until I pass that finish line!  Also, I’m not going to lie, you get a pretty cool rush as you’re passing people who had passed you early on.

All and all, I did what I had trained properly to do and I RAN my ENTIRE 5K!  To make it even better, I actually beat my best 5K time and finished the race at 31:41!!! I can’t even put into words how proud I was the moment I crossed the finish line. (despite how tired I looked in the pics)

I DID IT!!! In about 3 months I have been able to go from not being a runner at all, to running a 5K race and FINISHING!!! 

It feels amazing!!

Here’s a little photo-montage of the day. 🙂

My gear all ready to go

Just arriving at the race site

And off we go!!

Approaching the FINISH!!

FINISHED! Yes I look exhausted!! .. but I really am happy inside hehe

Phew!!

See! I was happy after 🙂

Must take care of those knees!

A special thanks goes to C for being there with me! You are my rock!