I did it!!!
I have to admit I was in a complete spaz mode from Saturday on, waiting for my big morning. I know, 5K is not a long distance, but having never done one before, and the fact that I have been working towards being in better shape, this was a big deal.
There were so many people! It was a little intimidating. Stephanie and I started about the middle of the pack. We started at what seemed like a pretty good pace. As we all started moving, it was less crowded. I felt quite good, and honestly, I think I was walking even faster than normal, which everyone said I would do just because of the other people factor.
At mile 1, Stephanie went on ahead with her running, which was cool. I had made the mistake of forgetting my headphones since I planned on using the ones in my sweatshirt. It was really much too hot for a sweatshirt, so I ended up not listening to music. This was ok, though, as it was kind of fun listening to all the cheers of people and even the random entertainment like one guy who was playing the bagpipes for the racers. It was really cool.
I do wish I had remembered my sunglasses, but in reality, they fog up too much, so it probably worked out ok in the long run.
I found myself passing lots of people as I powered walked up the street. It was a good course. More hills than I expected, but they were reasonable. And if anything, they ended up working in my favor. We walked up this one incline in the 2nd mile, but then we walked down the same hill on the other side of the street. I ended up running a third of a mile because it was easier to go downhill with a jog. It felt shockingly good. I was able to finish the race in a run, which rocks!
Sadly, by running, Ken was unable to track my whereabouts. Our app that allows him to show where I was stopped working because when I started jogging, my phone slipped in my bra a bit and he lost track. He didn’t take a picture of me crossing the finish line because he was trying to track me on the phone. I don’t mind at all, but it bummed him out. I felt so bad!
It was cool getting gobs of free stuff, including 2 beers! LOL! They handed out small cans of beer to all the participants. I don’t drink beer, but I had one since it felt like a good victory drink. Plus, we would not be able to leave the parking lot until 10:30. Luckily, we were mostly all filtered in to the drained Seaside Lagoon where the kids played on the play structure and Ken, Stephanie, Dave and I hung out.
As we were just able to leave the lot and had made it only a little ways down the street, Ken’s phone rang. Turned out the card he filled out for a drawing had been chosen. He won a bike!! YAY! We quickly turned around and headed back and Ken ran down to pick up the bike. Ken had filled out my name for this woman’s beach cruiser. It is super cute. So not only did I get to do this walk, I now have a bike! YAY!! I even rode it with the boys and Ken around the block, with the boys on their bike and Ken on one of the scooters. It is now time to get Ken a bike so we can do family rides. I am so excited!!
After we dropped the bike off at home, we headed up to Mt. Wilson. I had told Ken we should go up there to see if there was any snow since we had gone up that way on Super Bowl Sunday before when he proposed to me. I also thought the boys would like the adventure. We got up to the top, where sadly there was no snow. It didn’t matter. It was very pretty out, and so very clear. Ken then took my dragon claw wedding ring off and got down on one knee. He then proposed to me again, and when I told him of course, he replaced my temporary ring with my newly sized wedding ring, complete with new shininess. Very cool!
On the way back home, we stopped at the Glendale Galleria. The Hot Topic there had the hair color I wanted. It is a deep, awesome, crazy and unnatural red. I don’t know when I will do this, but I want it on hand. While in the store, the boys danced to Niki Minaj, which was odd and funny at the same time.
I just got a chat from my friend Monique who told me how inspired she was by my success and she is using it to get back into a routine. Alyssa has been sending me emails about each time she does more walking each night and has also told me I was inspiring. I feel so amazing to hear things like this.
Ken and the boys will be doing the next walk with me. Not sure which one we will do, but it will be a lot of fun. I have a stack of ads for upcoming races this year, and I think it will be so much fun to do these as a family. I figure it is good for all of us to exercise like this, plus it is a fun way to spend the morning together.
I am distracted and am sure I am forgetting things that happened over the weekend. I suppose I need to regroup. LOL!
No comments:
Post a Comment