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!
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| Me & Nicole! |
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| Me standing in front of Delta's |
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| 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!
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| My bestie cheerfully greeting a friend from Cali |
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| Us before the race |
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| After the race with my metal! Success! |
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| Just a snapshot of a few of the women |
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| My official results |
