1st road race since Jr High

[teigyr]

I did a 5K this morning! I have to say that running always gave me stress because I was competitive from 5th grade on through high school. I avowed never to run again. I started running last spring in order to do some tri's and I actually kind of liked the training!

Today I did the Jingle Bell run. It was such a blast! The city streets were closed, we ran on the freeway, and people sang. My time, despite the fact that the start and finish were both congested and therefore slow, was surprisingly good. I thought I'd be slower (I know I train fairly slow!) but I guess the excitement and other people made me faster. I also had no problem with the hills though I realize I need to train on them more. I passed a LOT of people, oddly enough.

Ok, MUST do more of this running stuff I just remember the old days of having to place in age division and there was so much stress. I like going out and competing against myself and socializing.

The most surreal part ever was running in a tunnel to get on the freeway. People were wearing bells, there were people with reindeer antlers on, and people were singing. It echoed! Due to the fact we were almost running in formation for a while, it kind of felt like a sleigh ride

[northstar]

Glad you had such a good time! Those 5k's can really suck a gal in.

[Tri Girl]

What a fun race! Sounds like you not only had a fun social experience, but that you didn't "suck" at running out there. That's motivation enough to continue on for sure. Congrats on a great race.
Kinda nice that this time you didn't have growing pains, acne, and weird hormonal surges (or did you???).

[teigyr]

hmmm...I was kind of hot after the run. I think it wasn't a surge but then again I didn't want a jacket

I'm more of a distance person but since I'm new to running for fun, the 5K is nice. It is SO easy and it's short enough to push it.

Am still working my way up to the half marathon but am starting to realize I'm not as bad as I thought I was.

[Shiraz]

Yeah!!! Glad you are joining the "RUNNING CULT" as my daughters called a bunch of us middle aged adult onset runners! Not saying you are middle aged but welcome back! Great job on your run. It can be soooooooo fun, very social and very competive at the same time but always very supportive of each other. That is the key to keeping it fun. Running with bells sounds like a great idea for all of us.