Love Your Body 6K

Tonya asked if I'd like to run a 5k with her at Thanksgiving Point October 9. Sure, I said, I'll give it a try, but don't wait for me once we start running. I'll just hold you back. So, I "trained" for the next 3 weeks or so. I was exercising anyway, so I thought I'd add running to my routine. However, the amount I ran was only a few minutes at a time. I think the most I ran at one time without stopping was 10 minutes. I knew I wouldn't be able to run the whole 5k, but it didn't bother me to run/walk the distance.

Then they changed the distance of the race to 6k so the runners would be able to run through at least a little bit of the gardens (there was also a 10k that started a little earlier. Because of not marking the course very well, some of those runners ended up running almost a mile farther than they were supposed to.)

It was a cool morning, which actually worked out perfect for the race - it was cloudy, but no rain, and as we ran we warmed up, but we weren't overheated. Tonya's sister-in-law Sheila (who runs half-marathons) also ran with us. She was off and ahead of us in no time. Tonya stayed with me for the first few minutes until I told her to go ahead and run at her speed and not wait for me. She asked if I was sure and I told her yes, so she took off and I lost sight of her pretty fast!!

I definitely was not in the kind of shape I would have like to have been in, but at the same time I feel like I did pretty good for not having "trained" for very long. I ran the 6k in 45:05.4 seconds. I came in 8th in my age group (out of 50) and 412th overall (out of 1067 runners). So, I was happy with my performance. I'd like to run more 5ks next year, but I hope by that time to be down about 20 pounds. My time, with a lower weight and more practice, should improve a fair amount.

Sheila's mom was kind enough to take pictures, but wouldn't you know it - by the time I crossed the finish line the battery went dead and she wasn't able to get a picture of me - just those 2 faster girls. Even my phone wouldn't cooperate, so I guess the final pic wasn't meant to be that day!!!

I got myself a new pair of Asics running shoes at the end of September. I also got a pair of inserts for high arches to see if that might help my feet not feel so sore after working out. Once I put my feet in the new combo they went "ahhhhhhhh!!"