What an Accomplishment!

Wow! The weekend went by so fast, even though my run wasn't. Ok, really I feel great about the accomplishment. 5 weeks ago I struggled to jog 2 minutes. Now, I can jog 4-5 minutes at a time with 5 minute walks in between. I could go longer on minutes, but I was going for distance so I needed to have the pace. I DID IT! After the second mile, I knew I only had about a mile to go. I also knew that I was not making the required race pace. We had been told that if we did not keep the pace, they would come around and pick people up and take them to the end! At this point in the race, runners did a hairpin turn to continue on the route. As I was looking at all of the people behind me, I also saw a tram go by at the end. I had to really concentrate not to cry! I felt I had come so far and I just wanted to finish! My emotions were really getting to me, but I decided to just keep going and if they came to pick me up I would desperately plead my case! Well, I passed the 3 mile marker and rounded a corner to see the finish line! I also saw all of my family yelling for me to finish! They also had a sign that was encouraging me to keep going! This meant so much to me to have their support. I am so grateful that I even have tears of joy as I write this. I decided to sprint to the finish line. This was the farthest I have sprinted, but I did it! to top it all off, I beat my own personal best by about 5 minutes! What an amazing feeling! I was exhausted and sore afterward, but so happy to have been there and made my body and mind healthier. After we ate and drank some food/water/power aide we went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the day. Here is a picture of me at the hotel after the race. I am holding the medallion that all of the 5K finishers got. I am proud of that!

This is the race shirt that all runners got. We all wore it during the day! All day long the workers were congratulating us for doing the race! We had a great time and I cannot wait to continue training!!!! What!!! Did I just say that? Yes, I did! And I actually mean it! My next 5K is in May and I hope to be able to run the entire distance!