It was cold. I debated wearing my hoodie or going without. Be cold now and less hassle later. Be warm now, carry hoodie later. I opted for wearing it now and suffering later.
We warmed up by walking from the car to get our packets, then back to the car to drop everything off, then back to the start. Then walking around the parking lot to try to stay warm.
Jayne and I agreed that no matter what, we would start with running and end with running.
My first 5K. Sedona, AZ.
I had tried to push my time when working out to get it under a magical number in my head, but no matter how I tried, I could not get lower than 2 minutes slower overall than I wanted to be. I warned myself that this 5k would take even longer because it wasn't on a treadmill and it was really hilly. My goal was to finish uninjured. That was it.
We positioned ourselves in the middle of the pack. Jayne was getting excited and I was trying to just stay calm and remember I have nothing to prove to anyone. Showing up earned me a gold star. There were two thousand something other runners. I probably wasn't going to be the slowest, but even if I was, it didn't matter.
I walked a 5k a few years ago and it was horrid. Trail, not pavement, dust flying, asthma acting up, and carrying a lot more weight on my body than I do now.
This time, it was run when you can, walk when you have to. I was coughing a bit but nothing unmanageable.
We passed people. People passed us. Jayne's a way better runner than I am but she stuck with me, which was amazing and awesome and I am so grateful.
It went by so fast. My trainer and his wife (Jesse and Mandy) came down to cheer us on, and it was really cool to see them as we approached the finish line. Some other folks we know cheered us on. Even folks we didn't know were cheering for all the runners.
The finish line was uphill, so as we ran across it, I was huffing and was glad to be able to stop. A couple minutes later I was ready to run again. I wasn't exhausted or hurting anywhere or sore.
And I had achieved my fastest pace ever -over two minutes per mile faster than I had ever gone before. 6 minutes faster than my fastest overall time.
Jesse and Mandy found us and we all hugged and took pictures and smiled a lot. They stayed at the race because Jesse's running buddy was going to win the marathon and they wanted to cheer him on for that, too. Jayne and I went to eat breakfast.
As we sat there at The Coffee Pot, I got all emotional and teary. Jayne asked what was wrong, and I said, "I'm just so happy!"
Jayne has been there from the get-go with this. Before I met with a registered dietitian or met my trainer or took a hazardous wobbly step toward running, Jayne was there telling me I could do it, telling me I was worth the effort, telling me to believe. She was there as I dealt with my crazy life while learning about food and being healthy and trying all these scary new things and working through major stuff and unlearning all kinds of things When we started working out together, she actually showed up. That alone is worth its weight in gold.
So she understood, as I sat there and cried in front of God and everybody, how much it meant to me that all this work I have done the past two years brought me to something I never dreamed of doing, or thought I would ever be able to do. I didn't realize how hard it would hit me when it was all over. This was something I never even hoped for, and it happened.
Jer 29:11, all over again.
so here are some pics:
This is from Jesse's phone (Jayne is the one in black, the guy is Jesse)
This is from my phone: gorgeous perfect morning, Melissa (who came in 3rd in her age class!) and Jayne and I showing off our finishers' medals, and The Coddington Four.
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