It's Official

I signed up for my first ever 5k run. I paid money and everything! And, I will get a spiffy t-shirt to wear with pride as I cross the finish line.

I think I've alluded to the fact that, in my mind, I see myself as a runner. I can run like a gazelle with long strides. The wind in my face... the pavement stretching out behind me... with the theme of "Chariots of Fire" playing in the background. Lovely, isn't it?

The plain truth is that, until recently, I never ran. What I mean to say is that I could not run to the end of the street without stopping half-way to catch my breath.

Somewhere, my visions and reality did not match up.

Enter on the stage, my sister. Her daughter runs Cross Country for the High School team. Last fall, we would go and watch her and cheer her on. Somewhere along the way, my sister decided that she wanted to compete in the local 5k held every October. Her decision inspired me.

She started training that winter. I took a little longer to get into the swing of things. This past spring, we started walking together on a regular basis. While our pace was far from running, you gotta start somewhere. Plus, we were both pushing "baby" strollers. A little resistance training never hurt anyone. :)

Every once in a while, we would run, but I still couldn't go very far. I was consistently walking, but the running was few and far between. My brain wasn't really engaged in the running. I knew I wasn't going to run the race until the fall. So I would tell myself, "I'll run to the next block... or the next tree... or the next house." You get the idea. I don't even remember the first time I ran a whole mile. I do remember thinking, "how am I going to run three of these?"

At the end of August, I decided to get my brain in gear. I downloaded this running schedule, tweaked it a little, and got to work. Now, I'm running 3 days a week, increasing the distance a little each time.

One day, as I was running, I had an epiphany: I can't tell myself, "run to the next marker." I just have to keep running. No boundary lines. Just keep going. Pace myself, yes. But keep on going. It's like hearing Dory singing, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming... what do we do? We swiiiiiiiiiiimmmm."

The race is Saturday, October 27. I'm in week two of the eight-week schedule. I'm excited about the process.

Anyone, care to join me?