Got my First 5K under my Belt!

Well...it's official...I completed my very first 5K and lived to tell about it.  :)

One of my 409 ladies, Ali, flew down to Atlanta from Virginia for the weekend and agreed to run with me.  We got up nice and early and headed to the runner's area at around 7:30 so I could pick up my bib and race packet.  We met up with my friend and local running buddy, Sharon, and later, my old boss, Shannon, from Canada.

They had a DJ set up playing music for us as well as a photographer that was taking pictures for free!  Ali, Sharon, and I decided to partake in the fun.  (Excuse the poor photoshopping - this picture was too cute not to post) -

Yeah!

We made our way to the start line and waited for the official "go"!  There were over 1200 people running/walking

The sea of runners

Myself, Sharon, and Ali waiting for the race to start

And then we were off!  Shannon left us in her dust as she headed into the crowd, Ali and I started our jog and Sharon was behind us.  We ran out of the hospital parking lot (shouldn't the race end there?), up a road, and into the quarry.  We got lucky and ran on a dirt road all throughout the quarry so the impact did not tear my shins apart.  Running through was pretty neat - they had all the equipment, huge mounds of whatever it is that they use/get out of the quarry :)  It was a nice course.  I walked more than I would have liked, but it is what it is and I know where I need to improve.  Ali stayed with me the whole time even though I encouraged her to run ahead if she wanted to.  It was nice having someone there to chat with a little bit during the run.  I finished my first mile in 10:32!!  I was so surprised and impressed with myself!  My second and third miles both fell into the 12:00 range, but at least I know I'm capable of running faster!

When we got in sight of the finish line, Ali took off.  I maintained my slowish jog and smiled when I saw J crouched down snapping a picture of me.

I look like I'm power walking but I swear I was running!

The professional photographer was also at the finish line.  I saw him and gave him this -

Thumbs up!

And finally Shannon, who rocked out a time of 35 minutes, was right at the finish line and snagged a picture of me with my finish time -

First 5K in the books!

They had us walk up a small area, tear off our chip from the bib and then Shannon, Ali and I waited and cheered Sharon on as she crossed.  J came up and I forced him to take the sweaty kiss I had, then we headed up to get our t-shirts, water, and check out the festivities.  Thank goodness my shins were not killing me!!  I iced and massaged them the night before and they really felt great, although the Biofreeze one of the vendors was handing out after the race felt amazing on them.

Still smiling!

Later Saturday evening the stats were posted on active.com.  My official time was 39:12 - I finished 31/66 in my age category and 699/1207 overall.  Not too shabby!  Now that I've set the bar with my first 5K time, I've got to beat it, and being the competitive person that I am, I'm pretty confident I will.

I had a blast running my very first 5K and I cannot wait for my next one.  Sharon and I have signed up for The Freight Train 5K on May 20th.  They have a whole series that we would ideally like the finish.  Their last race of the series is a half marathon the week before the Princess half, so we may opt to do the 5K that weekend instead.

Ali and I rewarded ourselves after the race with a tasty treat -

Mmmmmm

We shared the Maple Bacon doughnut and grabbed J a coffee buttercream doughnut at Dutch Monkey Doughnuts.  If you're ever in the area I highly recommend checking them out!

A huge congrats to two of my other 409 ladies who also ran 5K's on Saturday morning!  Awesome job, Julie and Amanda!!

Big thanks to Shannon, Sharon, and Ali for running the race - it was a ton of fun!  Also a thank you to J's company, Hansgrohe, for covering my entry fee.