My first 5k!

I didn't sleep the night before, and that was only partially attributed to nerves. It was also really hot in my apartment and I have a hard time sleeping when I'm hot. On top of that, because of the temperature, my cat wasn't laying with me. As lame as this may be, she lays with me every night so when she isn't there, I wake up because I need to feel her there. I got up at 6:15, showered, and had a bagel thin with butter.

8am was the beginning of registration so I got there right at 8. It was cloudy, foggy, and in the 40s. I went to register and got my free tshirt, which I put on for warmth (I wore my new racing tank top) for awhile. I walked around, did brief jogging spurts, ate my banana, drank water, etc. until my parents and brother got there.

Right before race time, this lady from some local gym warmed us up but she was way too intense and annoying. A lot of us were aggravated lol. Then we went to line up... I started near the front because I'd rather be passed than feel like I had to pass up a lot of people haha. In the end I suppose that was a good strategy.

I maintained basically the same pace, give or take 20 seconds/mile, the entire time, which I found impressive. When I'd train outside, I could hardly run 2.14 miles without walking let alone 3.14. But I just had to go for it. I had nothing to lose. My goal from the beginning was to be able to run this entire thing but my runs outside lately had been less than impressive.

Well, I ran the entire thing. :) Despite there being like 2 or 3 hills per way, I ran the entire thing. According to my awesome Nike+ Sportsband, it told me I ran my first mile in 11:15 (which is off by a few seconds because I started the timer before the horn was blown), the second mile in 11:27, and the third mile in 11:07. The hills were between like 1.5 and 2.5 miles. When I rounded the corner and knew the finish line was really close, I gave it all I had and sprinted as fast as I could to the finish line ... my calves felt like lead, lol! My final time was 35:53 (according to my band) and 35:44 (according to the guy at the finish line).

I absolutely loved it. I'm not a very competitive person, but it was just the adrenaline and the energy of all of the racers around me that really kept me going. It was so different running in a big group of people than running outside by myself. I look forward to my second race, which is June 26th to raise money for Epilepsy and Seizure Awareness!