Today, I did it! I am an official runner! I ran in my very first race today! WOO HOOO!!!
I am so excited to report that I ran in a 5K race, 3.1 miles. I did in in 35.40 and it was actually a little over 3.1 miles. The lady in charge said that it was probably closer to 3.5 miles.
So I finished 39th place out of 50-60 people. It was so much fun! Except for running by a dead animal, that part stunk....literally! ha ha.
Anyway, it is pretty humbling when I am running as fast as my short, fat legs can take me, which is pretty slow f.y.i, and I am not even half way to the half way point. And what to my dismay do I see? Other REAL runners already coming back the other way! Tis true!
The real highlight of the race for me was coming upon the half way point to the water stand. I got to drink my water and throw the cup, still half full of water, on the ground! I felt so official! Do you have any idea how hard it is to drink and run at the same time? I could have stopped to drink, but I know that I never would have got going again! So I kept running, drank some water, sallowed a bunch of air with it and kept going. It was so cool. Except for the air part. That hurt my chest, but with enough steps in the other direction, it came up! Thank heavens for that!
The other highlight was coming to the finish line and seeing that clock ticking away the seconds. There was a guy standing in front of the first number, so all I could see was the 5:30. I thought it must be 45:30 because it usually takes me 40-45 minutes to run 3 miles. But he moved to the side when I crossed the finish line, with my arms up, just like real runners, and it was 35:40! I was so excited. I beat my personal time! Erik even came out of Parkeway to watch me run in and he was late. He said "You are 5 minutes early!" So he missed it, but he was proud of me anyway!
So my next race in on the 24th. It is going to be the Gobble Wobble. It is a 5K/10K, walk/run/wobble! After eating 2 Thanksgiving meals, I may be more prone to the wobbling!
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3 comments:
Congrats on the race...and why wasn't Erik in it with you? HAHAHA Hope you can get back to NC real soon...
Wow, I am so impressed. Running 3.5 miles!!! Go Shalon!!!
HEY SHALON!!
Michelle S. was in the office yesterday & gave us your blog address. I'm so excited to catch up on what ya'll are doing and especially to read about you running. I wish you were here to run with us. Jenny & I have started back because Rocky Mt. is having a half marathon in Dec. Good luck with your turkey trot & thanks for the buckys recipe. It won't taste the same as if you made it but I'm going to try. Take care & tell everyone "hey" for me. Your girls are growing too fast and beautiful as always! We all miss you!
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