My second first 5K

Woot! I did it! I completed Ellie's Run for Africa 5K on Saturday. I call this my second first 5K, because I started training for 5Ks while I was in school. What possessed me to think I could handle college full-time, being a mom/wife/church volunteer *and* get ready for a 1/2 marathon? Well, something had to give and it was my hip-bursitis in fact. I took the hint and slowed down, but not before I completed a 5K at our local zoo. It was fun and everyone in our family participated, so this spring I made a pact with my friend Stacy to do at least three 5Ks over the summer.

I confess this 5K on Saturday nearly did me in, especially during mile 2 when we hit the last big hill. Stacy (a marathoner) was great, staying by me and encouraging me along the route when I know she was dying to speed things up. This was probably her slowest 5K ever! But I am going to boast about a couple of things:

1. We were not the last participants to cross the finish line
2. I managed to squeeze out a slow sprint for the last few yards
3. We finished *before* the kids' race began (an hour after we started)
4. My time was 26 seconds faster than my time in January 2007.

Surprisingly enough, although I was completely wiped out on Saturday, I wasn't too sore on Sunday, which makes me look forward to doing repeating the madness! So now that I am motivated, I started looking at training programs. I found one that will get me from walking to jogging 2 miles in eight weeks, then another program that gets me to jogging the entire 3.1 miles in six weeks. So the goal is to be running a 5K in September!

¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!

~N