One goal down...

I can now say I have been there, done that, and got the T-shirt to prove it!

I completed my 5K Run in the City to Sea event at Shell Beach two weeks ago. I did it! I ran with a huge group of people who mostly passed me up, but I kept moving and finished the race in 42:14 minutes. It wasn't the time I was shooting for, and the course seemed a lot longer than my measured training runs, but Hey! It was my first race, and it won't be the last.

Starting in a large group, I got caught up in the excitement and was going way to fast. I got to the first corner and had to walk, but I worked it out to jogging about 300 yards and walking 100 yards, then repeating. Mile Marker 1 took a long time to get to. I was moving with the middle of the pack...lots of real fast people finished in 15 to 20 minutes, while others took over an hour, so I guess my time was pretty average. That's okay. Luckily there was this one woman who kept passing me, then I would pass her, etc., until we got to the final stretch. At that point, I was resolved to not let one more old lady pass me up -- her approaching footsteps motivated me to keep moving faster and stay ahead. It was fun!

I had to think of Andrew during my run and ask him for inspiration to keep going. He was such a competitor in everything he did, and I wanted some of that strength. I think I got it.

I want to keep moving, so I will run in another event in November. Then I want to enter the Hounds N Hares 5K in March. It is an event I helped organize several years ago and I always wanted to be able to compete in it, so now's my chance. Then I think I have my husband and his friend talked into being a team with me in the SLO Triathalon in July. I will run, Nick can ride a bike and Lee can swim. That will be fun to train for and compete in.

The best part was at my Weight Watcher's weigh-in this week: I lost over a pound! Happy, happy! Thanks, Drew : )