Gratuitous victorious cat shot.
Why?
Well, cuz I really did it!
Thanks to my friends Lili and Karen who were on my run team who were my cheering squad (and who run a lot more than me). They encouraged me on, and I ran the *whole* 5K of the Run for the Cure.
All of it!
HEE!
I didn't stop once, and finished in a quite respectable 34 minutes and some seconds...
I have to say - it was an inspirational time. I haven't expereienced anything quite like it...to be around the people I work to help in a place where they had such hope and strength instead of sickness. There were a lot of survivors there, some still in chemo, who were walking because they couldn't run. Some were walking for those who had passed on...for family and friends they'd lost. All I could think of when I ran was "this is hard, but it's *nothing* compared to what they went through". And with the sadness was joy...people holding photos of loved ones they remembered...survivors too sick to run cheering us on on the path with pink feather boas and pompoms...with such joy in their eyes!
It was an amazing thing. I'm glad I did it. I learned a bit about how strong I am inside and how amazing people are.
Thanks to all of you who pledged to me...I hope I honoured you by running well.
And thanks to you Shirley...I ran it for you. Be well.
~crossposted on my other blag~
3 comments:
Congrats!!
My goal is to finish a 5k by the end of the year. Any training tips?
Well...let me think. I just slowly worked my way up with running and walking combined...started with 1 min run 5 min walk 4 times every other day, adding 30 seconds to the run and shortening the walk from week to week, adding more run and less walk and upping the number of times I'd do the run/walk to 6 times by the end. It took me 8 weeks to get to the 5 min run 2 min walk 6 times, and the first 5K I did, I couldn't make it thru and had to walk for 3-4 minutes of it. I still was doing 6 min run 2 minutes walk 6 times until the race, but once you get to that point it's pretty easy to ramp it up I guess...and today I just upped it to 9 min run 1 min walk 4 times and it was fine - somehow knowing I could was half the battle.
If you read over my blog from the start, I said what I was doing every day from when I started to learn to run...if that helps.
I'd say just run and walk, make sure you have a rest day between runs. If you're doing it for you you'll care and not push yourself too hard. If I can do it anybody can...I'm a former overweight couch potato with asthma :)
I will say that a fried potato breakfast after the 5K is *definitely* an incentive :)
Oh yeah...and stretch out a lot.
Seriously.
It takes me 10-15 minutes to stretch all the major muscley groups after I run. It feels good and it keeps you from getting injured or being insanely stiff and it'll keep you from hurting yourself.
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