My First 5K

Yesterday, I went down to Sacramento to run in my first 5K. It was a huge event for the "Race for the Cure." I have been pumped about doing this and the challenge of it all. I have been training for the past 4 months to do this. I was both excited and nervous. It was so nice to go down with my good friend, Kristin. Neither of us had done this before.

Just taking a few snapshots in the parking lot right after we arrived. The orange strip that I'm holding later went onto my shoelace -- it's the chip for the timed-event.

Here I am right before the race. There was lots of energy and excitement from the crowd. Everything was so well organized. I was very impressed.

One last snapshot before the race. We had our sunglasses & iPods, and we were set! It was a little hard to get started with the thick crowd. Even though the clock started, I didn't get to the official 'start' line for almost a minute! Once the crowd thinned a little, I could get into my own pace ... my own groove. There were tons of people cheering from the sidelines. There were cheer leading groups doing cheers. TV crews were there. There were also DJ's and a couple of singers at various parts of the course. The course wound through a couple of streets and then back to the fairgrounds. The finish line was inside of the fairgrounds. For some reason, my chip didn't register when I crossed the finish line, but I watched the clock. I came in at 33 minutes, and that's not counting the extra minute it took me to get to the starting line! So, I'm saying my official time was 32 minutes. I was so happy that I ran the entire 3.1 miles. There was free food from a sponsor grocery store: yogurt, fruit, water etc. After Kristin met up with her family (two of her boys ran events), I walked around just taking it all in. There were several booths there with little freebies. Overall, it was a wonderful experience for me ... a goal completed. My running has been so GOOD for me these past few months. Not only have I dropped weight (definite bonus), but I just FEEL better both physically and mentally. I'm looking for my next 5K to do ... to keep me motivated. Anyone want to join me?