HOW DID THE 5k GO???

Well, I did it. I finished the 5k. That's about the only positive thing I could say about the day. Maybe my positive attitude will kick in later in the blog and I'll think of a few other things. lol. I think I'll start from the beginning.

Woke up nice and early - 6:30. Wanted to shower, eat something, get ready, ice my legs, stretch a bit then head out and get there at least 30 minutes ahead. I had already picked up our t-shirts and numbers from the head office so we didn't need to register or anything. Well, things just started to go wrong. Hubby let the new puppy go on the floor, he didn't think to get the kids out of bed and get them ready while I was in the shower and nobody had eaten breakfast either. So, needless to say, we were a lot more behind than I anticipated. By the time we got there the race was only 10 minutes away from starting and the closest parking was a quite a ways away from the starting line. So there I am, all stressed out, looking around this crazy, chaotic park for the place where the runners start. We finally get to the area where all the runners and walkers are and I am about to take a couple minutes to stretch when the runners start running! And I we couldn't break into the group so we just waited until the end of the group. I was told at the running store (where I got my new shoes last night... I'll be getting to that in a minute) that each person is given a chip that activates when you cross the start line and records your finish time too. Well, that didn't happen. There was no such thing for this 5k.

You might think that this was a crazy start to my first 5k, but there is SO MUCH more. Started running and then stopped to walk (which is the only way I can get through it at this point) and hubby starts trying to get me to run slower and don't walk, just jog continually. This made me paranoid. I was stressed out, had shin splints (yes, apparently the shin splints still exist for me if I don't stretch) and, oh yeah, the shoes. I realize that it wasn't a really bright idea to put on BRAND NEW running shoes this morning without running in them first. My toes on my left foot were numb and I had to stop twice to loosen the laces. And then there were the comments from hubby about how it would be better to _______ (whatever advice he wanted to give me for why I wasn't doing it the right way). I kept trying to explain that for right now this was how I trained. Then there was the water issue. I was told there would be several water stations. Um, one. There was one. At the one mile mark I was at a little over 13 minutes and felt pretty good about it. By two miles I was exhausted and SO frustrated because it was NOT very well organized. There were no signs telling people which way to go so we spent (and this is NOT exaggerating) a good five minutes total wandering in a group of walkers who were already done (they did a 3k) trying to find even one person who could tell us where the rest of the runner's route was. Isn't that ridiculous? No signs. No volunteers. Nothing! At one point there was a guy whom we assumed was a volunteer and we asked, "Do we go left or right." He said left but we weren't positive. I said, "You're sure this is the way for the runners?" He said, "I'm pretty sure." What? Pretty sure? By this point I had gotten irritated with my husband's comments about jogging instead of walking and had snapped at him a few times and so he just shut down completely. He didn't talk to me for the second half. Later he said that he just didn't feel like getting snapped at anymore. I admit, I was not on my game. The wind, the new shoes, the lack of stretching, lack of water, hubby not willing to accept the way I had trained for my run, lack of signs... I think the chaotic start just got me in a bad mood that I couldn't shake. I was WAY stressed out and got a bad time because of it. I am normally (when I run either treadmill or the track) very focused. My goal was to get under 46:30 (but deep down I was really hoping for under 45 minutes). It didn't happen. I was hoping that I just wouldn't be in the last 10 people - that didn't happen either. I believe my time was 48:08 and my husband and I crossed the finish line with only 2 or 3 people behind us. Now, my husband says that I shouldn't even think about the time because we wandered around for like 5 minutes, making our time totally inaccurate.

So, I am done being negative. I am going to think of 5 positive things that happened today.
1 - I finished the 5k.
2 - I was supporting a worthy cause.
3 - I had a group of friends who walked or ran to support me.
4 - Now that my first experience is out of the way I will be more prepared next time.
5 - My children were able to be there and cheer on their Mom while she accomplished something she'd been working for. I set a good example for them!

Here are a few pics:

Me and hubby close to the end of the race.


Our group - from left: Team No Regrets - Ron, Christina, Joe (hubby) and Me; Team Monkeyspit - Rob and Amy; Team Monkey See, Monkey Do - Rick and Karyn


Just the girls (Amy was singing Lean on Me very loudly in my ear at this point, lol)

Overall, I think it was a learning experience. And if nothing else, I'll be better prepared for whichever 5k I decide to do in the fall.