CLICK HERE FOR FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATES, LINK BUTTONS AND MORE! »

Friday, January 25, 2013

My First 5K!

I'm so excited! Today I participated in Katie's "Runs for Cookies Virtual 5K." Her blog is the first weight loss blog I started following some time early last year, and she is the person that inspired ME to start running. I don't know why I waited a year to start, but better late than never. Anyway, it was quite a process to get the race accomplished, and here is why...

My mom had the day off from work, so I asked her if she wanted to run with me. She did, so we headed out to a national refuge close to our hometown that has trails for people to hike on. First thing we had to deal with was a dense fog advisory in effect this morning for our area. Second thing was the temperature outside. It was FREEZING! And yes, I'm from Texas, so 39° is too cold for me. I had on capris, a t-shirt, and a jacket, and I thought that would be enough because I didn't want to get too warm if I had bundled up. WRONG! Third thing was once I got out there my app wouldn't work that would have calculated my mileage and time. I was so disappointed and mad.


I tried to run anyway, but I had a much more difficult time trying to run out there than I do on the treadmill. Three things that didn't help: gravel surface, cold wind, and no music or TV. I realize though that I should probably start practicing on the track at the football stadium in addition to the treadmill. I just have to overcome my fear of people seeing me run.


We drove back home, and I immediately got on the treadmill to start attempt #2. I knew if I didn't do it right when we got home, I wasn't going to do it.

When I run on the treadmill, I watch Being Human on Netflix. I LOVE the UK version!


 I've been using the Runs for Cookies 5K Plan for People Who Hate to Run, which you can find here. I haven't worked up to running the full 5K yet, so I kept going with the plan, which meant I would be running 20 minutes today. I've been running 5mph, so that is what I set the treadmill to. When I reached 20 minutes, I was at 2.32 miles, so I walked a 4mph pace until I reached the 3.1 mile goal. I completed the race in 00:41:15. I was so happy and proud that I did it!




I definitely want to improve my time the longer I run. I had an idea today after my run to have 5K Friday. Until I reach my goal of running the ENTIRE 5K, I'm gonna keep on pushing through the plan, but every Friday, I'm going to run/walk a 5K to try to improve my time with every run.

That about wraps up my first 5K, so I'll leave you with these words of wisdom from Elle Woods. ;-)




4 comments:

  1. Thats a very good time Katy :)
    I took much longer! :)
    I like your idea of Friday five k's--I think we could do it together!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got so hooked on races after my first 5k, so the key is just finishing the race! You should be so proud of yourself for taking all the gruesome and difficult steps it takes to get to that point. Most people don't have that kind of drive.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your words of encouragement. I'm excited to see what my future looks like with running (and exercise in general) as an integral part of my life.

    ReplyDelete