Chick-fil-A 5K 2012

The Chick-fil-A race came and went last Saturday and I am glad it is done!  I had fun and my daughters came and watched dh and I cross the finish line.  I have never had them come to a race before and it was nice to have them cheering for me!

My goal was to run it under 33 minutes...although my secret goal was to run it in 30 minutes.  Unfortunately, neither goal was met.  The day was warm and humid and not ideal running conditions.  I hate running in humidity! But, I did better than last years Chick-fil-A race, buy almost 2 minutes, so I am good!

Dh went over to Corral 1 and I walked around enjoying the festivities with the girls.  Sara Beth got a cool cow hat and posed with me....she was mooing like a cow in the picture.  Silly girl!  They had the Running of the Cows race for the kids and she had told me she didn't want to do it.  Of course, that morning she changed her mind, but we forget to grab her running shoes so she didn't get to run...There's always next time!

 We found a cool super Cow as we were perusing the grounds!  We are strong!  We are runners!

 I made my way to Corral 3...yes I am a slower runner.  Corral 3 was for 10:30-12:00 min miles. I started near the front as I didn't want to trip over any walkers. It was a hot, sunny, humid day and I didn't feel it.  I did take 3 10 second walk breaks, but I felt good.  DD captured a picture of me crossing the finish line!  I was smiling!  I knew I was going to get a free Chick-fil-A sandwich!  Yes, I will sometimes run for food!

After chowing down, at least dh did because I didn't have an appetite right away, we noticed the picture platform was empty!  So we had dd take a picture of us. I think we look great post-race! I even got to wear my new running skirt!  WOOT!

Dh PR'd this race.  Last year it took him 34:14.  He did run most of the race with me even though I kept telling him to go on without me!  That was the last time we ran together...thank God!  He has really improved.  This year he finished in 23:43!  WOOT!  That's a 7:39 mile.  Way faster than his times at home.

I pr'd for a race time, but I have run faster once before.  LAst year my time was 35:14.  I think that was great as I just started running!  This year I did in in 33:26!  Almost 2 minutes faster.  And I kept my normal 10:47 pace.

Dh and I are already trying to decide what race is next!  I have a 5k in Sept and we are looking for a half in October!

I have several blogs (most I forget to update), so I thought about starting one to share my running on.  I haven't been running my whole life...not even half of my life.  I only started running back in October of 2010. My husband thought I was crazy...he thought I would ruin my knees.  But, I wanted to loose weight, find a good workout to help get me back in shape, and I have always wanted to run.  I always would see others running down the street and wish I could do it.  The most I have ever run was probably the mile run you must do in high school and I am sure it didn't go well!  Probably took 15 minutes to finish. I just didn't think I had it in me. And that was back in 1992!

Fast forward to October 2010.  I saw some friends on Facebook discussing Couch to 5k and wondered what it was all about. I found this great webiste : http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml and started reading. The first week had only 60 seconds of jogging broken up by 90 seconds of walking!  Surely even I could do that! On a brisk morning close to Halloween I decided to try it out.  I even downloaded a great music mix I found here: http://runningintoshape.com/ that has Carli telling me when to walk and when to run! And she provided great motivation!  I love Carli!  Without her I don't think I would have made it past week 3!

Week 1, 2 3 and 4 went pretty well.  Week 5 was killer!  I got stuck there for an extra week or two. That is when dh decided to join me. Yep.  He was intriqued!  And, he figured he could jump right in at Week 5.  I decided to redo Week 3 with him and once we hit week 5 that time I was ready!  As the holidays hit, some of the weeks didn't get done and by mid-February I found myself starting back over at Week 5. The hardest week! Dh and I decided to sign up for a 5k and that really is what motivated me from then on.  I HAD to finish the 5k!  And, I didn't want to be last.

The day came and YES!  I finished it and was not even close to last.  I did walk a little and told dh to go ahead and leave me. It was warm and humid and I forget my headphones, but I did it in 35 minutes! I finished at the front of the second half of runners! I ran 3 more races in 2011.  I ran another 5k that was alot harder.  It was an all-terain race that included road, trails, gravel and 2 HUGE hills! I finished in 35 minutes too, a few seconds faster than the other 5k.  I did a 6k and did it in 39:45! That's a 10:43 pace! And finally in December I ran an 8k at Busch Gardens.  I hadn't been training as much and had never been to the park so I looked around a bit, but finished in 58:16. And I WASN"T LAST!

I made a bunch of friends on Facebook and they have really motivated me and inspired me to Just keep running!  (Dory inspired!) Now, I am coming up to the anniversary of my first race...the Chick-fil-A 5k and dh and I are registered again.  My goals have changed this year.  I don't want to just finish and I don't want to just not be last.... I want to PR!  I want to give it my all!  I have started a more intense training using Train Like a Mother (http://anothermotherrunner.com/) and I am ready to beat my first race time! And...I am planning on running my first 10k this year and my first half marathon in February 2013!

So, keep reading, follow me, inspire me and I hope to inspire you. If I can do it....ANYONE can do it!