2nd 5K!

The first time I did a 5K, I woke up early on a nippy December morning, amped and ready to go.  The morning of my second 5K, Saturday morning, was the complete opposite.  I was sore all over from a hard workout week and dragging from the lack of sleep I'd gotten in the previous days of my being the night owl that I am.  Before I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but this time around I was already anticipating each step of the three mile journey ahead of me.

But, it was the first 5K held by my town's Strawberry Festival and my husband had agreed to do his first 5K by my side.  Yawning but resolved, I pinned on my number and gathered with my husband, several cousins, friends, church members, and neighbors to await the start of the race.

Once again, everyone struck out ahead of me and once again I asked myself, "what the heck am I doing out here?"  I can pretty much do anything I want these days in the gym and have tested my endurance successfully in several two-hour Zumba marathons....no easy task.  But a race like this always tends to put me in my place so to speak.  Resolving to put one foot in front of the other and concentrate on doing my own race and not worrying about the pace of those around me, I drew from the positive energy of my husband beside me and got on down the road.   I will say that when my grandparents pulled up next to us near the halfway point on their way to their usual breakfast spot, I thought a couple of times about jumping in with them.

Doing a 5K for me is very similar to the weight loss journey: when you start out you wonder what you're doing and why you're doing it; sometimes you see other people shoot out ahead of you but you can't worry about their pace, only your own; sometimes your feet hurt and it's hot and you grow weary and want to quit; sometimes there are twists and turns in the course you aren't suspecting; sometimes you lag behind but then sometimes you get your second wind and surprise yourself; you can grow the most weary when the finish line is in sight; but, crossing that finish line brings with it accomplishment, a feeling of power and joy and you're never sorry that you did it.

Crossing the finish line.

Me and the hubs at the finish.