My First 5K

On Saturday, I participated in my first 5K.  It was awesome!  I decided that if I were going to run a 5K it would have to be something fun and not competitive for my first.  I found the Color Me Rad race and signed up.  I have never been much of a runner but I figured I could work hard and train to run since at that time the race was not for a few months.  I started researching what I would need to do and came across the Couch-to-5K program.  I was set!

Here is the program that fit me.  With being a SAHM mom to two little ones in the middle of a very cold winter here in Tennessee, I decided my best bet was to run on the treadmill although I have to say after running the race, running outside is much more fun!  I went to the gym three nights a week while my husband got the kids to bed or fed Amelia her last bottle.  I have to say that it is hard at first but with determination it becomes habit and something that I loved doing.  Even now, I am looking for my next 5K and still running when I can.

The following is a link to the program that I used.
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

When I first started it was hard to just run the minute and a half.  It seemed impossible looking ahead to week nine and seeing that I was going to be running 3 miles or 30 minutes.  But this program is great for conditioning your body into being able to accomplish this goal.  With each increment in time and mileage increase, the first workout was hard.  But the next got easier and by the end, 30 minutes went by so fast.

On race day, the weather was gloomy.  The forecast was for rain and lots of it.  When I started the race, it was just a nice drizzle and thankfully the temp was in the upper 50's.  It was so much fun to run with a crowd of people.  Because this was a color run, they said that you would want to wear white because of the color that would be thrown through the race.  I wore a pair of shorts I found at a thrift store and a shirt from Walmart I found for $1.  I did not want to ruin anything nice.  And thank goodness I didn't because I was certainly colorful by the time that I finished the race.  Even the the bottom fell out of the sky before I finished the race and I was soaked, the color was still everywhere - my clothes, skin, socks, and shoes.  I am sure that it was in my ponytail too but since I have such dark hair it made it harder to see.

For anyone that is looking to just run for fun or great exercise, training and running a 5K is a great way to accomplish this.  I had so much fun and I am looking forward to my next race.  Eventually I would love to run a MudRun but that may need to wait for a little while.  I plan on entering at least one more race this summer, although the temperatures get really hot here in the summer.  Get out there and have fun and if it is raining on race day, just remember that just adds to the fun!