My first 5K!

OK, I am feeling a bit proud at this moment. But today, I did my first organized 5K.

I had run up to 4 miles before, on my own and training with The Boy, but we are rather lackadaisical about timing ourselves. Last time we ran around 3 miles we estimated our time at 29 minutes, which made me really happy and also think that perhaps we had made an error in our timing.

I am not a runner, but I've dabbled in it recently due to training for this tri, and found that I actually *gasp* do enjoy it a bit!

So today was a 5K, starting from the high school which is literally a stones throw from where I live. No excuses there. I told some friends about it and they were all, 'oh yeah we can do it with you' but then when it came down to the time, no one was there, and I was sitting on the couch the night before telling myself I would have to do this completely on my own.

Which, honestly, was a bit scary. I'd never done an organized race before and I was dreading the possibility of coming in last.

So I wake up early, pump my tires on my old hunk o' steel commuter bike, and load up the backpack. Since the start is only about 1/4 mile from where I live, why drive? And I didn't particularly want to run, since I was worried enough about being able to finish the race without walking.

(I have to say, there's a bit of pride involved there, too... there's nothing quite like the feeling of rolling in to some meeting place for physical activity, on your bike even if you have only come from a few streets over.

So the race.

To start off with, it was a very small one. About 250 people, and since it was cold (~30-35 degrees F) probably not as many of the slower people showed up. This was my thinking, anyway. To my mind, only the hardened runners would show up. They would all run in under 25 minutes, and I would be left by myself on the road with a car trailing right on my heels, making sure I didn't drop dead.

But then a few more people rolled in, and I began to feel a bit better. With 250 people running, surely someone would run slower than me! (I know, it's silly to be so competitive over such a silly thing, but well... I get like that some times).

The race started. It was odd, that time right before the gun. The runners all shifting around like cattle in a pen, itching to move, hopping up and down, I could practically hear them lowing.

The first mile was, well hard. I was really out of breath. I had warmed up on the ride over (there were some hills) but then had had some time to sit. I tried to stretch, but I wasn't warmed up, and it was cold. My breath wasn't coming even. I held pace with another girl for some time before she dropped me on a hill.

1 mile.

The second mile eased up a bit. Things thinned out, people settled into their own pace, and I could focus on my breathing. The is where most of the hills were, but I felt okay despite that. About 1/4 way through the second mile I saw people already on the return trip. Sheesh.

2 miles.

When I hit the 2 mile mark I felt a sigh of relief. I didn't feel out of breath anymore, and I knew that I could finish the race without walking. I felt like i was going faster as well, and I got to actually enjoy some of the hills. There is something nice about driving your legs into the ground on a hill. Your thighs feels like hammers.

The finish was, well up a hill. Of course. I had no idea of my time or pacing as I approached the finish, but as I ran up the hill I saw the big flashing red numbers.

Holy ****! Did that say what I thought it said?

I tried to speed up. Hell, if I had run this fast, I could run just a little faster and get under the minute. See, i'm competitive like that. Someone passed me, and my little legs tried to sprint, but with the length of my stride, I'm definitely not a sprinter.

I reached the finish just a few seconds after the minute. I smiled.

This was way better than I had expected, at any point. Hell, before my goal had been to do a 5K in under 30 minutes!

And I had just done one in 28:05. (the girl i kept pace with at the beginning had finish in 26 something, winning 2nd in her age group so i felt better about not having been able to keep up with her)

Then, I strapped on my bike helmet and rode home, grinning ear to ear and even stopping at the fire station to buy a celebratory pair of daffodils pots.

Yay! These 5ks aren't so bad afterall!

Hooray, Kimmy! Congratulations. You did awesome! 28:05 in your first 5k... impressive. :D

Excellent! That's a great time for your first race. Congrats!

Wow, that's impressive! I'm so glad you had fun AND you had energy to turn it up at the end! :D

Congrats on an awesome race!!!

Wow, 28 minutes is smoking! Congratulations!!!!

Good job Kimmy. Nicely done. A 5 km in under 30 minutes is great.:D :D

Awesome! You did a wonderful job. That's great that you rode your bike over there too.

Sounds like it was fun... and your friends are lazy for not showing. Oh well, THEY missed out!

Nice Job Kimmy- under 30 min is great and going on your own... well that shows some definite fortitude:) Way to go:)

Congrats Kimmy!!! It's the best feeling in the world when you've done your first race (and you'll be feeling that again when you do that tri coming up).
Yippee for you!!!!! :D Congrats!!!!!! (awesome time, by the way!)

Thanks gals! I am still all kinds of happy about that race! It was so much fun!

:)

I am really proud of you....now I think I am going to do one...you inspired me my non-running friend. OOppppsss nonrunner NO MORE!!!!!

Kimmyt- I am a little late to this thread, but I just ran my first 5k (in 18+ years, anyway) & was trying to figure out where to post about my own little victory. So here we are.

Congrats to you!!! What race are you going to run next, if any? I can't decide whether to shoot for a better time in another 5k, or maybe try a 10k next.

Hmm I think my NEXT race is probably a sprint triathlon I'm running in June. I forget if I had something else before that, maybe some sort of trail run? I don't remember the date but vaguely recall talking about doing something in mid June with RNRgirl. I know I have a few bike rides but I don't really count those as 'races'.

Congrats on your first 5K in 18 years! You should most definitely post a report about it!

I am hoping, running-wise, to do the Broad Street run (10 miles) next year, then possibly a halfmary the year after that. i am not a runner, so those are fairly huge goals for me!

K.

I'm sorry I missed this, I need to check the running forum more often. But here's a late congratulations! You did awesome, oh my gosh! I did my first 5k in October and I came in around 38 minutes. I was just happy I finished without walking, and here you did it without walking and with a great time! :D

Congrats to you too, RedCanny! :D

HappyAnika & KimmyT- Thanks for the congrats!

I've signed up for my next race- an 8k on June 3. Frankly I'd like to stick to 5ks, and there is one in Sept I've got in mind, but a friend persuaded me to do this 8K with him, to help him get ready for a half-marathon in Oct. I figure it'll be a good training run (with t-shirt!), if nothing else. :)

For the Sept 5k, I'd like to beat my split of 8:23.