The Wife Weighs In...Special Report

Happy Tuesday, GHMIW fans!

It’s funny how things happen. On Sunday, I went to an event thinking I was going to do a 2K walk with a stroller full of toddlers. I ended up unexpectedly running (and walking) my first 5K.

On Sunday, the entire family went to a 5K event to benefit SUDC (Sudden Unexplained Death in Children), organized by a local couple (friends of Nana Heather’s) who had recently lost a daughter. Tony, Evan (my brother-in-law), and Bob (my father-in-law) were running the race, along with my sister-in-law, Sister Sarah, who was running her first 5K in a number of years. I was there to do a 2K Family Fitness Walk and to cheer the rest of the family on.

When we went to check in, I realized that we had inadvertently registered me for the 5K. It was funny to be standing there with that race number in my hand.

Then, I started to think about it: "I need to get one more Couch-to-5K workout in this week. I complete 3.1 miles each time I do a treadmill workout. I’m dressed for it. I’ve already completed a 5K in 45 minutes. I’m thinking about doing that race in October…this is the exact same course. Even if I need to walk most of it, I’ll get my workout in and I’ll get a good look at the course. What the heck…what do I have to lose?"

So, I decided to take part in the race.

After a quick sock exchange (thanks, Mom!), I was ready to go. As I waited for the race to start, I sort of wondered what if I'd lost my mind...was I really going to do this?

I started running with Bob and Sarah, but it didn’t take long before I had to walk, so I let them go. I walked a little while longer. Once I caught my breath, I just started doing what I was supposed to do on the treadmill: 90 seconds running, two minutes walking. Because I didn’t have a watch, I counted right footsteps. 90 steps with the right foot running, 120 steps with the right foot walking…that was the goal.

I reached the end of the first mile at about 10:24. To be honest, I didn’t know I’d finished a mile at that point, I just thought, “It’s been only 10 minutes?”

I continued with my 90/120 strategy for as long as I could. The course was really hilly, though…that made it tough. A few times, I would be power-walking a hill and thinking, “I am going to start running as soon as I hit the top of this steep hill,” only to find another steep hill in front of me.

I went back to 90/120…sometimes 90/150…occasionally 90/180.

At one point I was passed by friends of ours who were running together, each with one hand on a stroller that was carrying their two children. I laughed to myself about the fact that I couldn’t keep up with them.

"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

Back to 90/120…I finished the second mile at 24:10.

I had been jockeying back and forth with a man and a woman throughout the race. We had passed each other a couple of times. Shortly after completing mile two, she said, “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

I said, “No, it’s great! It helps keep me on pace.”

“But you run faster than I do,” she said.

At that point, I told them that I hadn’t planned to run that day and that was in training to run my a 5K race later in the fall. Then, at that moment, the fit-looking young man asked a question I never dreamed anyone would ever ask me: “Wow. Are you a former athlete or something?” I couldn’t believe it.

I went back to 90/120. I had no idea how far I’d gone or how far I had left to run. About that time, I saw my father-in-law round the corner and come running down the hill toward me. He had already finished the race with Sarah and was coming back to look for me.

“Wow! I didn’t think you’d be so close behind,” he said. “I thought I was going to get some speed work in.”

We ran up the rest of the hill together. At the top of the hill, I told Bob I really needed to walk.

“No you don’t!" he said. "The finish line is right around the corner!” He talked me through the end of the race, reminding me to put my head up because my family would be taking pictures. We ran a little faster than my normal pace, but it was a good push to the end. I am so grateful for his coming back for me and for helping me to finish strong. (Thanks, Bob!)

My lungs were burning at the finish line, but it was worth it.

The fastest I’d completed 5K to that point was 45 minutes. Yesterday was the third session of the second week of my nine-week C25K program. My goal for my first race (to be run in October) was 35 minutes. Did I mention the course was hilly?

I finished the race at 37:12. My pace was 11:59 per mile.

I was tired, but proud of myself. I also surprised myself. I was a dancer, but I’ve never been athletic. I was the girl who would have found any excuse to get out of having to run. In elementary school, I was the girl who had trouble finishing the mile. To be able to say that I participated in a 5K race (on purpose!), that I decided to do it on the spur of the moment, that I didn’t finish dead last, and that I would be willing to do it again? This is all very surprising.

Someone asked me if I was looking forward to the next one. Looking forward to it? I don’t think that I would describe it that way. But, I know it’s something I have to do. And, more importantly, I know it’s something I can do.

Until Friday,