My First 5K Race

I ran my first 5K race today. I was a little nervous just because I've been an inside runner so this was one of my first runs outside. I ran with a friend from work who runs a lot and has given me a lot of advice and encouragement along this journey. At the beginning it is a little intimidating because you see all of these "professional runners" running first to warm up and my thought is that if I run now I definitely won't run during the race. When you get in line at the start line everyone is all packed in together. There were these ladies behind us that were so encouraging to me. They said how great it was that I was doing my 1st race. It was a great sense of camaraderie between all of these women who are just trying to lead healthy lives. Finally it was time to start and there really wasn't any more time to be nervous because I was running and I just started thinking "This is just a normal workout. I do this 3 times a week already." That really helped me mentally. I felt like my pace was slower than usual, but I decided that I wanted to go slow and steady and finish at a time that I was proud of. Well...drum roll please....I finished in 34.55 minutes. That is about an 11 minute mile. I am so excited about that time! My goal was to finish in under 40 minutes, so I definitely met that goal. Thank you to all of you who have listened and encouraged me as I'm learning to be a runner. Your support means the world to me.