The Dreaded 5K

In school, I always excelled. I was by no means the best, but I always managed to pull good grades and easily understand things. However, there was always one class I always lagged behind everyone. The dreaded gym. Most of the time, I managed to pull decent grades in gym, probably not deserved. When I took Strength and Weight Conditioning Jr. year, I got an A despite riding the exercise bike and reading a book. Probably because the teacher was the Wrestling coach and I was a stat girl for them. I actually earned my athletic letters from being a stat girl.

Of all the things I hated most about gym, the dreaded mile run was the worst! Whether it ended in me in last place (most of the time), me having a mild asthma attack or in one case in second grade, upchucking all over the lawn, the ending was never very pretty. To this day, the thought of running terrifies me as much as it did that day at 7 years old when I tossed my cookies.

Tim and I recently rejoined the gym. With working a desk job, I really needed to get my exercise. I've been mostly walking, motivating myself with the thought of some alone time (yay for gym sitters!), reading a book or watching TV. When our church's yearly 5 K walk/run came up, I signed Tim and I up.

Today was the big day. After about six weeks of training, I thought I was ready. Tim did too. Boy, is it different walking outdoors than inside!

 

 

We started at the back and stayed there. My asthma started up trying to keep pace with Tim. I told him to walk ahead of me and did it at my own place, slow! At about the 1/3 way point, I lost sight of everyone. I even had a police escort for some time patrolling the end of the race!

Everyone could not be more encouraging! I could not believe how kind everyone and how encouraging they were! I've come a long way since the mile run. Those days, I felt like a loser. Today, though I totally sucked, I got the same encouragement as the guy runing the 5 minute mile!

 

It took me one hour and eight minutes (on the dot), but I did it! I FINISHED it! I felt a little stunned and tired out. We stayed for the awards and although I didn't win anything and in fact was the last person across the finish line, I realized I made a big step and faced fear dead on. While waking a 5K may seem like nothing to most, doing it for me was one of the hardest things I have ever done and I'm so glad I did it. Oh, did I mention I was pushing this guy the whole way?

 

Hopefully, next year, I can come in second to last place, even if I have to push the stroller behind me to do it!

 

Also, my awesome husband came in nine minutes ahead of us. Go Tim! I'm so proud of him!