Blogging here on a cold Wednesday morning, enjoying the quiet. My mom, brothers and I walked our first 5k race on Sunday. For those of you that don't know: a 5k race is a 5 kilometer distance (roughly 3.1-3.2 miles). It was a lot of fun and it was for a fantastic cause: the Susan G Komen: Race For The Cure. We walked this time but vowed to run it next year. Yay for goals!
As previously stated, the race was on a Sunday in the morning. We got up at 5:30am in fact. Yea, I know what you're thinking...'but TIM, you do your distance run on Saturday! Weren't you too tired to walk a 5k after a strenuous RWR day?!?' The answer, my faithful audience, is absolutely. You bet your favorite pair of new balance I was tired. But I wanted the experience of a formal race. Plus, it was a good cause so it was worth it in the end.
But man, it was tough. I felt kinda bad because I was definitely the slowest of the group. I kept the pace though! And we were passing people the entire 3 miles so I was proud of that. We finished in 1:03 I think? Peter will have to edit that fact. We got to the race village around 6:30ish? Again Pete will have to edit details, I was still half asleep. We got there very early as we were afraid of there being a limited amount of parking. Turns out there was plenty so a mental note for next year. They were expecting 25,000 people this year! But we heard as we started the race, there were around 30,000 people in attendance! I love seeing a passion for a common goal, this event being breast cancer research and support for those fighting a battle with cancer.
The race village for this event was interesting. A race village is a central location for a race event where information is handed out, sponsors of the event usually have tents with advertising set up, it's cool. You really get the heart and soul of a race by being at the race village.
My head was freezing when we got there, so I wandered over to the merchandise truck to see if they had a beanie or something. Luckily they did, it's pink which I think is unique. Real men wear pink, right?...right? Mom got a beanie as well and a shirt for Hannah.
We walked around the village more and got to see all of the vendors lined up. There were a lot of people in costumes I noticed, lots of spirit for this race. Made me wonder how deeply breast cancer had affected these individuals and families. I saw one of my friends at the village too. His mom had breast cancer but fought it off like a boss. He was wearing a pink leotard and a pink tutu to match. So funny, yet such a sweet gesture for his mom.
Soon after, the runners were called to the starting line. We went over and stood where the walkers were to wait until the timed runners and un-timed runners had started. After some time, we were called over to the starting line. This is strange, but I got kinda nervous. I realize it was only a 5k walk, but there's something about being in a huge crowd of people ready to go. It was a bit nerve-wracking for me. I also didn't know if I'd be able to finish, which stressed me out a bit as well.
The race started and it was slow going at first. Everyone was packed in at the beginning so I spent more time looking at the ground and other people's feet than being worried about anything else. I must've flat tired Jonathan at least 4 times. After about the 1 mile marker, the crowd started to thin out which let us take off. We walked pretty fast I thought, keeping up quite a pace. Nothing really to report during the actual race, just a lot of huffing and puffing on my part. I will say this though: there is more work to be done for me on the mental side of running than the physical. My mind quits 1000 times before my body does. There were many times when I thought I wasn't going to make it through the 5k, yet I made it. My legs hurt and my feet ached but I was able to keep going and keep up with my brothers and mom. I did it even though I kept telling myself I couldn't. This has major ramifications, people. If I can do something I thought was impossible while telling myself I couldn't what can I do if I believe in myself and stay mentally tougher? I think I could do anything. I know how much I can take physically, I think my mental barriers have yet to be explored. I need to start developing mental training for myself along with the physical. As they say, where the mind goes, the body follows.
All in all it was a good day and a great first 5k/race. I'm actually looking at different 5ks in our area to maybe take a crack at another one soon. I may have been bitten by a 5k bug here...
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Tim
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