The Day & Wrap Up

I was surprised at how nervous I was the night before and the morning of the 5K. Part of my career (back when I had a career) was to take a series of very tough exams over the course of many years to achieve my certification. The night before the run, the feeling in my stomach was the same as the night before those exams. Too late to do any more preparation, wanting to have a bit more time to prepare and knowing that waking up in the morning, it was going to happen whether I was ready or not. Hadn’t felt that feeling in a very long time. But…

I did it! I finished the 5K without walking! Wasn’t sure it was possible even as it was happening, but after I reached the halfway point it felt doable. I had miscalculated my pace earlier in the week. Based on my last 35-minute run, I thought the 5K would take me 45 minutes. I completed the course in 44 minutes. I was happy and lucky as my 5K mix only had 45 minutes of music on it. That would have been tough to run the last bit with no music.

The day was perfect for the event. No rain, a bit warmer than it has been. There was a great crowd. We had about 150 registrants, fast runners, fast joggers, slower joggers, run/walkers, walkers, folks with babies, dogs and even a harnessed cat participated, so I was not alone. Having people cheer along the course and as I crossed the finish line was exhilarating, almost as exhilarating as actually being done.

All in, we raised just about $4,500 for the animals of MEOW. That also feels great!

If you’re wondering whether I’ll continue to jog, the answer is, I just don’t know yet. Part of me thinks it might feel good to train a bit more and see if I could pick up my pace a little. And, part of me says, you did what you set out to do, move on. Either way it feels like my journey from the couch to the 5K was a success!