Holy crap, it’s done.

I’m honestly not sure what inspired me to run a 5K before I turned 30.  It might have been because I haven’t run (for any great distance at least) since I was forced to do so for a grade in high school.  And the last year we had to take gym was 10th grade.  So, there’s that.  Or perhaps I felt the need to put a ginormous albatross on my list to taunt me until I finished it.  Either way, it loomed over me for the better part of this year.
 

And I didn’t really do much in preparation for it.
 

Truth be told, I started the C25K program twice.  I didn’t finish it either time.  However, I got much farther the second time around… all the way to Week 5.  Out of 9.  Yeah… you don’t have to tell me that’s only halfway.  The fact that I had only run for a solid 5 minutes straight did not bode well for how I would do when I was required to run at least eight times that amount.  I had 100 excuses reasons: I didn’t have a treadmill (so I bought one), Irene hit (that was valid), I had a minor surgery that kept me from being able to exercise (that’s a loose representation… I had a mole removed and it just happened to include 6 stitches underneath my bra line – totally valid) but truth is, I just didn’t do it.  Plain and simple.
 

As the day approached, I kept telling myself, I’m just going to have to wing it… I’m pretty good at that anyways.  The good news is, my best friend (the yard sale goddess you met back in July) had decided to complete this adventure with me (along with another almost 30 friend who has also started a 30 Before 30 list and she’s vowed to complete FIVE 5Ks… showoff ).  I could not have imagined a better partner (in crime) to complete this (ridiculous) adventure.  Katy has always been my outlet for outrageous (and often inappropriate) laughter and the following analogy pretty much sums it up.  As we were getting ready yesterday morning, and I expressed my nervousness and the acute anxiety building up inside of me, Katy made a fantastic point that I focused on for the rest of the morning.  Running this 5K was going to be like having a baby.  Although, up until this point, I had done neither of these horrifying tasks, her reasoning still made me giggle.  First of all, I had been building up to this moment for 9 months and nothing in the world could prepare me for what was going to happen.  Then I was going to have to endure some agonizing pain and terror before being done but I’d have an amazing accomplishment to show for it and be able to have a celebratory beer (or two).  Yep, sounds about right!
 

We all (2 runners, 2 husbands and a baby) piled into the car and arrived at the Aquarium right on time where aforementioned friend, Colleen, had already found our registration numbers so we could jump right in line.  As I watched the “real runners” stretching and warming up next to me, I realized I was in trouble.
 

Ready!  Or as ready as I’ll ever be.  Yet still smiling.

 

The penguin ran with us… we blamed our slow pace on him.

 

Almost time!  With the best support team ever.

 

By the time the race started, I was as ready as I was going to be and the real life penguins wished us luck at the starting line, along with the 3 foot stuffed one that Katy had strapped to her back.  Epic.  To say she was the celebrity of the day would be an understatement.  We were off… and I actually ran the first 3/4 mile no problem!  However, that’s not to say that I didn’t welcome the forced walk through the trail in the woods with open arms.  Once we got to the other side for the run inside the little neighborhood, I started to feel it.  My lungs were aching and I was still coughing pretty heavily (I stayed home sick on Wednesday and John actually said I coughed ALL night the night before this race) so we started to set small goals – ‘run to the mailbox.’ ‘walk until that black Toyota,’ ‘run until the woods’ and before I knew it (or something like that) we were back through the woods and on the home stretch.  Once we could see the Aquarium, we started running for good and my heart lifted a million miles when a couple students I know from work, were waiting near the finish line to cheer us on and give us high fives as we passed.  We ran through the finish line and I immediately walked to the back looking for water because I’m not going to lie, I thought I was going to pull a Harry Potter World.  John had said it would be cool if someone puked after the 5K.  I’m not sure he meant his wife.  I was able to pull it together but it was touch and go for a few.  But THAT would have been embarrassing.
 

43 minutes and 55 seconds had passed between leaving the starting line and hugging my best friend in triumph at the finish line.  Was it the best time?  Of course not – that was reserved for the asshole that could run 3.2 miles in like 17 minutes.  But I did finish ~10 minutes before the last person and there were several people between us and that final runner (including the older gentleman who made me realize how grateful I was that I chose to get CPR Certified JUST in case).  But regardless, that’s not why I did this run.  Sure I had a goal (not die) but I didn’t really care how long it took me.  So, could I have done a better job and completed it under 40 minutes (or even less)?  Probably.  Could I have made a better effort to actually run the whole thing without periodic walking breaks?  Definitely.  Did I complete the 5K regardless?  Absolutely.  And that’s what matters.
 

Besides, there’s always next time.  Yeah… you heard me.  I might do it again.  Go figure.
 

So happy.  To be done that is.

 

Not flattering… but real.  Oh so real.

 

In addition to these pics (and the ones I’m waiting to get from Katy), there were a few volunteer photographers at the race taking photos and this one got a couple great shots (and a few not so flattering ones too but hell, it’s not a beauty pageant!)  Click here to find me!  Just try and ignore the fact that we’re on page 45… of 49 (i.e. the end).
After the race was done, we celebrated by taking the babe to the Aquarium for the first time which was such a joy to be a part of, especially when I was going to buy him a bath toy as a present and he chose the dolphin.  He knows the way to his Auntie Darcie’s heart.  The gift shop also allowed Katy and I to do what we do best… make absolute fools out of ourselves.  Oh, I guess that would require us to care what other people think.  Nevermind, we just had fun!
 

Assholes.

 

My bestest, her babe and the penguins.  A perfect day.

 

And for the record, I did get that celebratory beer.  Or two.

 

 

Katy, I love you with all my heart.  Thank you for being there in all of life’s joyous (if you can call running a 5K joyous) moments… I couldn’t have done it without you.  And Colleen – maybe I’ll complete one of those other 5Ks with you. 

 

12. Run a 5k (yeah… you heard me)

 

In running, it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.  ~Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder