Saturday I ran my first 5k and met my goal of finishing without walking in under 42 min. Before Saturday the furthest I’d ever run was 2.5 miles. My time was 37:55, which may sound very slow to some of you, but I’m happy with it, given my history with running . . .
Growing up I was the fat kid with asthma and allergies who couldn’t run and sucked at all sports, always the last chosen for a team in PE, frequently ridiculed for my inability to catch/throw/hit, etc. I hated PE, absolutely HATED it. As I got older I learned how to use my asthma as an excuse to get out of doing as much as I could in PE. Running hurt. It hurt my legs and it most certainly did hurt my lungs, even when using an inhaler, so after high school I didn’t run for years. I did, however start doing other exercise, like weight lifting and aerobics. In 1999 I tore my ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus in a ski fall, resulting in 2 surgeries a year apart. As part of my recovery I got serious about working out, and tried running, but it still hurt, both the lungs and the legs – specifically the knee, so I still avoided running. Over the years I’ve developed some problems with my “good” knee, likely as a result of having a “bad” knee, so now they are both problematic and they protest running. I’ve had periods of time where both knees felt good and started building up some running fitness, but then the knees always act up and I go back to other things. Our friends, and DH, are all into running and cycling and duathlons and triathlons, with ever increasing intensity, and its always made me feel like a slob for not participating. So last January I decided to make it a New Year’s resolution to run a 5k this year. I had my sights on one in June because a lot of the course is on knee-friendly dirt and June is typically very nice weather (no snow, no 100+ temps). However the knees were not happy in the weeks leading up to it and after telling everyone I was going to run it, I didn’t, which made me feel like a total looser. The only way I could make myself feel better was to concentrate on all of my cycling achievements (just started cycling in April). By the end of the summer my knees were feeling better so I tried running occasionally and decided that I would consider running in this 5k if my knees held up. I went ahead and registered, but I didn’t tell anyone except DH in case I wimped out again at the last minute. Then I got sick, a nasty sore throat that kept me from getting any exercise for a week and a half during the 2 weeks before the race. So I considered dropping out, but by the Wednesday before, I was finally feeling better and decided to go through with it. Saturday morning comes and I’m terribly nervous. Two of my girlfriends are going to run with me, one of which is getting to be a very accomplished runner and could run circles around me, but she decided to keep it low key this day and stick with the two of us slow pokes. Standing at the start I felt like I wanted to back out, and asked “Why am I doing this? I hate running.” I had my ipod strapped on playing my freshly created running playlist for motivation, so I didn’t even hear the starting gun, I just started running when the people in front of me did. Next thing I know, here I am, running . . . in a race with other runners . . . no way, I don’t belong here. I found my pace and my friends stuck with me. Then we turned the corner and saw the dreaded hill, the one everyone talks about when they talk about this race, and it was nothing! Hill? Pssshh, it was a tiny bump. When I got to it, I took off with extra effort, just like I do on my bike, and I was at the turn around point in no time. We re-grouped, then continued on. Then in the last mile the pain started to set in, “Ow, how much further? Can I PLEASE stop, just for a second?” “No, must . . . keep . . . running.” Then finally we round a corner and I see the track where the finish line is. At this point my superstar running friend is directly in front of me and I’m imagining that she’s pulling me along. Then we round the final corner and I pick up my pace, I’m going to make it! I hit the track and break out into a sprint all the way to the finish line. Then it hits me again, the pain, pain in the lungs, a little in the knee, but its ok now, because I’m done! I did it! I finished. And why did I do it? Because it had been haunting me my whole life, but no more! Demon be gone!
Ok, so now I know it is indeed physically possible for me to run 5k, which is good since that’s how far the run is in the triathlon I want to do next June. Thanks for listening. I’m off to work on my swimming . . . :D
