Done.

I did it & I'm done.  I finished my 2nd ever 5K this weekend at the Baltimore Running Festival with the CT5K team & my sweet friend Michelle. 

Friday night I took the kids up to Michelle's house for a sleepover so we could slip out at 5am, leaving the children & Dennis sleeping.  We had a wonderful dinner & then stayed up catching up on all things mom/wife/friend since it's just been too darn long since we've been able to just chat.  Tho, it probably would've been smarter to hit the bed earlier than we did.

Saturday we made the trek to Baltimore in the cold, dark morning.  And met up with the CT5K team--including my sherpa, Colleen, who I was meeting for the first time that morning.  The running festival scene was a little overwhelming for me as I'm so new to the running world.  But having a friendly face & a confident sherpa by my side made for a relaxed atmostphere.

I had a shorter training season this time plus surgery mid-season with some time off from running, so I wasn't sure what I even expected to be able to accomplish.  Ultimately, just like in the spring, I wanted to run the whole thing without walking, but beating my time was a nice idea too.  After a couple of very challenging but accomplished training sessions last week, I knew I had it in me to run the whole thing without walking...even if sllllooooowwwwwww.  

Unfortunately, I awoke to my stupid period & cramps that stopped me in my tracks.  And I don't do mornings--in case you don't know that about me.  My body doesn't function quite right in the morning.  I don't know if there are races that start at 3pm or 6pm....Joel's idea was for me to wake up at midnight & then by 8am it will feel like the afternoon to my body?  Dunno if that's the answer either....BUT, I didn't have a choice.  It was morning.  It was the first day of my period.  I had cramps.  And I was running.

I won't bore you with the details (tho, I have written them out, so if you're interested, let me know), but here are some highlights of my 3.1 miles...the first mile was a HILL.  We already knew this because Coach Bob had lined out the whole route for me ahead of time.  I was mentally prepared but it still sucked.  There were a couple of pretty funny shirts that gave me a distraction & a good laugh mid-race--one said on the back "If you're reading this, I'm in front of you."  And as we PASSED her, my sherpa Colleen said "Not anymore!" HAHAHA!  In the final mile a mother passed US with a couple of elementary age kids & made the comment to them about how proud she was that they were running the whole thing & not walking.  When a man on the sidelines shouted that we couldn't let a kid pass us, I shouted back that I'd win this whole race if I could bottle up the ENERGY of an elementary age kid!  I think I've figured out that kids have so much energy because they SUCK IT all from their MOMS!  And in the final .2 miles, I ran so fast that I honestly had no control of my legs anymore.  I just wanted to be done.  Done.  Done.

Funny, within about 5 minutes of finishing, we were already talking about "our next race".  I've experienced this before--Day 2 of walking 60 miles as I'm sitting in the rain trying to eat my soggy lunch & I'm tired, sore, cranky & cold and I tell my team "Remind me of DAY 2 if I EVER mention walking this 3 Day thing again!"  Yeah, that was 2 years ago....

So here we are, 2 days post race.  I am officially registered for my next 5K in December (it's called the Hot Chocolate 5K, seriously, who wouldn't sign up for that one???).  I have 2.5 weeks till we start our 3 Day journey in Dallas TX with my team, Jenny's Army of Angels.  It's Breast Cancer Awareness month--funny how getting cancer is the ultimate reason I have started doing any of this & I'm getting healthier as a result.  Training continues....stay tuned!