Mission Accomplished

Back in April, my sister-in-law, Amber and I decided to start running together. We’d both been working on losing weight and getting in better shape, and one day decided to go for a run… which suddenly turned into us deciding we should train to run a race. And that’s how it all started.
Then, of course, came the preparation. And frankly, we didn’t really know how to do that. (If you’ve read my previous posts, you know that!)
So, we’ll assume you’ve read my post about the Couch to 5k program (which I just can’t say enough good things about), and I won’t go into too much detail there. Suffice to say, there is no way I could have run 5k yesterday without having prepared first, and I am so thankful for the C25K program that gave us a model to follow. It helped us reach for smaller goals on the way to our BIG goal… and helped to push us past what we probably would have pushed ourselves.
After all our prep work… Yesterday, our goal found it’s completion. RACE DAY!
Me before the race. I look so relaxed (but was NOT)

Amber and I ready to run! (and showing off our stylish, vintage numbers)

In the pack, watching the opening that honored our fallen Iowa soldiers.

This photo better captures how I was feeling…

(And no, I pretty much never realize I make these faces – my husband loves when they're caught on film)

And we’re off!

A shot from across the lake (you can see us in right about the middle of the pic)

Just after we finished mile 1.

You can see in the pic (and the one above) how in synch we are – not just our steps, but our arms, too. We didn’t even realize we did this (guess it comes from running together all the time)

Grabbing some water at the first water stop…


…and then trying to figure out how to drink and run at the same time. (I was not skilled at that)

And then we went out of the sight of the cameras for awhile, until…
…we approached the FINISH LINE!




Our finish time? 33:23. I’ll be honest – I was shocked! That’s about 2 minutes faster than we’ve been running in practice! Not only did we meet our goal of running start to finish, but we got a faster time than we thought we would. Not bad for a couple of first-timers. ;)

I can’t really explain the feeling of finishing this run. Honestly, yesterday felt pretty surreal. We finished, got some drinks, grabbed a bagel, and then Josh & I had to get our sweaty, tired kiddos home. It seemed to go by pretty quickly!

Today, it feels strange to think August 22 is already behind me. But have no fear, friends, I’m already cooking up my next goal. The goal for yesterday was to run – start to finish – no walking. Now, I think maybe I should try to improve my time, don’t you? I don’t think I’ll be WINNING races any time soon, but really, I think I’m my own toughest competitor, right now. So look for me to be running another 5k in the next couple of months.