I Did It!

I made it a goal awhile ago to run the 3-mile Fun Run on Pioneer Day, and as the title of this post states, I did it!

For those who don't know, I started a running program about 3 months ago, a great program that really eases you into running from walking. The program is 8 weeks and at the end I was able to run for 30 minutes without stopping - a huge feat for me. I've been keeping up with running, well, 3 or 4 days a week, and yet as Pioneer Day approached, I felt myself wanting to slack off.

I ran the day before for 26 minutes and felt ok about it, not great, but I did run later than I normally do, meaning it was hotter than it normally is and me and heat just don't mesh.

I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. and even though our dogs woke me at 4:00 (I let them out, fed them and went back to bed for an hour) I got up when the alarm went off, had my cereal, coffee and water and headed out the door. I was very nervous! At one point I couldn't find a way to enter the area holding the events for Pioneer Day and thought about just bagging it and running on my own, but I persisted. I was the first one there to sign-up...yep, 10 minutes before registration even began and then wandered around. As the crowd grew so did my nerves, as well as my excitement.

I lined up in the small crowd and when it was time to take off, I felt relieved that we were so crowded together, because I would could only run at a slow pace, a good way for me to start. During the run I followed a family of kids and found them quite inspiring, one was even pushing a stroller! I passed a few people, but later found those people ahead of me. I really had to learn that it was about my own rhythm, not beating someone else's.

At one point when I was struggling I reminded myself that the goal was to run the whole distance, no matter what that running looked like - even a very slow pace. That helped a lot. Toward the end of the race I focused on another runner's dark ponytail, yep, whatever focus one needs and as her ponytail got closer to the finish line, so did I!

I ended with a time of 30:07 which for me felt huge! I figured I ran about a 12 min. mile, so to run about a 10 min. mile was a great thing.

It really does feel good to set a goal for oneself, to work at it and to achieve it. As an adult, we often have to create these opportunities - especially if one does not work outside their home, as I'm not doing at the moment. Nobody else did it for me, though plenty were encouraging along the way, so thank you.

It feels really, really great to be able to say and know, I did it!