Recap: Black Girls Run! Sweat with Your Sole Event! September 8th! Charlotte, NC

So for those of you who followed my couple of postings about my Journey to 10K you know that in July and August I was training for a 10K race to support my best friend.  It was a great hurdle for me because I previously did not enjoy running.  After learning how to pace myself, I rather enjoyed the challenge of seeing how far I could go without stopping.  As we approached the time of the race, Christina informed me that she wasn't prepared for a 10K (neither was I) and we could do the 5K.  Whew! Hooray! Since I had been training for a while, I felt way more prepared for the 5K than the 10K.  I got excited.  I went down to Charlotte on Saturday to spend some time relaxing and to mentally prepare for the race.  While down there I also had some time to visit one of the local jazz restaurants downtown, Deltas.  The food and the setting was amazing. There was a live jazz band playing and I ran into Nicole, one of Christina's cousins, who I remember meeting when she was a young girl.  She has grown into a beautiful young lady!

Me & Nicole!

Me standing in front of Delta's 

My pre-race dinner.  Probably not an appropriate choice but it was so delish!

The morning of the race we were up early but I was super excited.  There were SO MANY WOMEN there, excited about exercising!  Christina and I walked to the 5K line and took a few pictures and stretched prepping for the race.  I was so proud of myself.  I ran way more than I walked.  I would have to say that I probably ran over 1/2 of the 3.1 miles.  The thing I was not expecting was the hills.  I'd trained on flat courses so that was a shocker.  We've already been told if we plan to go to Atlanta next year for the race, the course is even hillier. As I approached the finish line there were those who had finished ahead of us who had come back down the last 1/4 mile of the course to cheer us on!  The supportive environment was amazing.  As I waiting and watched for my best friend to come I watched & encouraged other ladies towards the finish line.  I got so emotional seeing women with strollers, golden women, and even one lady in a wheelchair finish the race.  What an amazing accomplishment!  When I saw my bestie coming I jumped back on the course & finished with her.  Of all the races she'd done, she always said she never had friends or family waiting at the finish line for her so it was important to me that we finished together. And this time she had both!  Her mom & dad were at the finish line too!  Overall it was a great event.  I felt great right after the race, but needless to say as the day progressed, my 38 year old body started to let me know that I had done the most that day...LOL!  I will definitely plan to keep running as a part of my cardio regimen and plan to run another 5K or maybe a 10K in the future!  To your health on our journey to 100!

My bestie cheerfully greeting a friend from Cali

Us before the race

After the race with my metal!  Success!

Just a snapshot of a few of the women

My official results

Journey to 100: My Path to 10K

* #1 Just keep breathing, #2 after the run, so happy to be done, #3 the trail before us

I've found over the years is that one of the best things about friendship is being supported when you are trying to accomplish a goal.  Oftentimes, I'm less motivated about doing something for myself, but if its in support of someone who is close to me, I'm all in.  My best friend, Christina, has been doing 5K to 10K runs for the last year and hitting the pavement with Black Girls Run.  This summer, BGR is having a conference & race in Charlotte, NC & she is coming to this event.  Now understand, while I enjoy working out and will speed walk at the pace of the slow jogger (I'm 6'1 so I have an extremely long stride & I walk very fast.)I do not enjoy running. At. all.  My chest burns, my feet pound the pavement, I don't feel like I look good running at all....uggh.  But in support of my best friend, I'm going to try to do this.

Today I downloaded the free couch to 10K app for Android and got started.  Now let's just be clear, my goal is not to run the entire 10K (let's face it, it's 5 weeks away), I just would like to do  a comfortable walk run for the duration and my legs not feel numb when I get to the finished line.  So today I got started.  Another local friend & I completed the first day of the couch to 10K plan on the Neuse River Trail.  It consisted of a 5 min warm up, 60 sec jog, followed by 90 sec walk for 20 mins, and then a 5 minute cool down....30 mins total.

Let me tell you.  After the first 60 sec jog we both thought we were going to pass out.  But as we progressed along with the alternating walking & running, it got a little easier and the 60 seconds didn't seem quite as long.  It certainly helped to have a partner to do it with to keep each other motivated.  So day 1 is complete.  2 more days before we move to the 2nd week.

Christina, this is for you!

Side note:  I have joined Luvvie's #31WriteNow Blogging Challenge.  It means that I am committing to blogging continuously for the next 31 days.  Not all of my blog posts will be about natural hair or exercising.  In fact, there will be a variety of topics that I blog about.  My main goal will be consistent in putting up fresh content.  Interestingly enough, because I will have less time to plan my posts, my readers will probably will get a closer look into me personally because of it.  Well, I hope you enjoy.  And if there are any topics that you would like for me to write about during this 31 day challenge, let me know, I'll try to accommodate the request!