So… recap of my 5K this weekend.

First off, like I said earlier, I really hadn’t been running/training since my last 5K. So I wasn’t expecting much. I almost didn’t show up, but I wanted to see if I could do it.

I walked my butt to the start line, two miles away from my house, to get there at 7:30 in the morning on a Sunday in order to pick up my bib, and scout out the course. I was super nervous – it was a much smaller race than I expected… only 55 runners. I thought “Holy Shit… I could come in last.”

I met two awesome girls, and we started talking about how we had all just started running, and that we didn’t know that this was going to be such a small race (it also wasn’t well organized, but that’s another story). 

At 8:30AM, the 55 runners (who were mostly college students), headed to the most GHETTO start line and we were off. They weren’t officially timing us, so I used the stop watch on my phone to time myself. 

This is when the adrenaline started kicking in. I started off slow, getting myself into a groove. I didnt want to hurt myself, and I knew there probably weren’t going to be course markers (there weren’t… only the first volunteer that we passed was telling us that she was the 1 miler marker), so I needed to pay closer attention to how my body was feeling. 

And then, something magical happened. I hit my stride, and started passing people. It was cool outside, and had started misting, so I buckled down and just pushed through. I started passing people, and for the first time, I negatively split on my miles. 

Why did I choose this picture? Because at around mile 2.5, I started to hurt. The voice inside my head that was worried I was going to finish last, was now telling me “Maybe you should walk”. The first thing that came into my mind was this quote … “The voice in your head that says you can’t do this is a liar.”

I rounded out 3 miles, and could see the the finish line. This guy who was walking, decided he wanted to sprint through the finish line. At this point, I wasn’t going to let someone who was walking, and who I had passed, beat me. I don’t know where I got the extra energy, but we sprinted to the finish line and I beat him. 

Most satisfying feeling ever. I crossed the line, and checked my time… 28.45. My PR to date. I did it. I didn’t finish last. I set a personal best. I did it. I proved it to myself. 

I didn’t know anyone there. I didn’t have anyone to watch me finish. I didn’t have anyone to hold me accountable if I didn’t do it. It was all me. I did it for myself. That is the most satisfying thing. 

The voice in your head that says you can’t do it is a liar. You can always do it. If it keeps on telling you that you can’t, you tell that little voice to royally fuck off. 

You’ll be happy that you did it.