Race Day COMPLETE!

I finished my First EVER 5 km run/walk race.. barely.. but FINISHED!!

It was rather cool that morning so I went with shorts, tank top and a running jacket for clothing to be prepared! I got to the race at 930 am to get started for the day... jacket on.. race bib on ( 1822 was my lucky number) I wandered around.. got a little warm and then sat down to stretch a bit...

1006 am comes and we haven't started running yet.. I get very anxious when people are not on time.. I mean the race starts at 10 am.. why have we not started anything yet?!

1015 am - BANG! Off we go.. OK .. so note to self.. don't try to blend in with the pack.. you have to push through those people to get through to start running.. oopps.. didn't think of that.

I start to run after walking 2 minutes to warm up and INSTANTLY.. my shins are killing me and my calves are tight as can be! So I slow it down.. I really found it awkward to push through and pass people.. Are people really this ignorant? They have signed up for a Run/Walk event do they not have any idea to stay to the right so the faster people can pass.. Apparently not!

So I decide after a few minutes of running Ill take a quick stop and stretch out my legs.. OH MY GOD are they sore!!

I keep at it.. running for the first good kilometre and a half of the race.. I come to the north side of the lake and HOLY is it hot!! So here I am trying to walk my butt off as fast as I can so I can take my jacket off and put it in its little bag.. ugh what a pain!!
Now I have my water belt.. and my jacket belt.. the West side of the lake is so windy you can barely stand up.. So I just walked most of the west side and then ran my butt through the parking lot to get to the south side of the race.

I found it challenging to keep running so got into a really fast pace walk mode.. I surprisingly wasn't as defeated as I thought. There was absolutely NOTHING I could do with that wind. So why beat myself up over it!

I get to the 4.5 km mark and I texted my DH to tell him I am starting to run in. I promised myself I would run across that finish line NO MATTER WHAT! I get up the hill and around this little bend and I look over to the event area and what do I see....My little girls are running towards me cheering me on! Oh my .. What an amazing feeling! I instantly start tearing up! I grab the girls hands and we start running together to the finish!! We get about 50 feet away and people are clapping and cheering. Ainsley is right in her glory  ( pictured here )

Hydie however.. Saw the young man at the finish line who was so enthusiastic and cheering.. and ducked out before we hit the finish line..lol it was to much pressure for her!!

I got to the finish line 5 seconds after Ainsley.. and I looked at the clock.... 51:24.... I beat my personal best of my first 5 km attempt... by close to 3 minutes....

I was carrying way to much stuff... Was constantly out of sorts.. BUT I FINISHED a 5 km run / walk race.. at a pace of 10:11min/km.


COMPLETE!