Firt 5k.. I did it!

Im such an idiot. The whole time Nikki took pictures my thumbs were in the air. I felt like Ricky Bobby " I don't know what to do with my hands"

We didn't realize that we were going to be doing hills the entire race :| I wanted to die, and I walked alot. Maybe next time I should be a little more diverse in where I train.

One last picture before it was time to start running. I was getting really nervous. Nikki... not so much. she's chill like that.

at the trophy station (before we realize that we were going to get trophies!)

do you see that? 3rd place in my age! haha.. don't be too impressed people. I think there were maybe 100 people there. and probably only three in our age group.

so proud of these itty bitty trophies

Our first 5k was memorable at best. It was a ton of fun and I'm so glad that I was able to do it with my running buddy. She's the best, and she's really good at motivating and keeping me running.  It was a fun little getaway for us to have, we left our husbands and kids and drove down to salt lake and stayed at a hotel.  We actually went to bed at a somewhat decent hour but much to our dismay didn't get alot of sleep. It's noisy in downtown Salt Lake. We woke up and had a banana per Austin's advice... and let me tell you something, I think I might eat more than a banana next time before my race. I was cramping while running because I was so hungry.

We got to the race and I'm pretty sure we were the first people there. haha It was great. I was still super nervous about running. I think it's a serious mental thing with me because when I was on the swim team at my high school I'd get the crazy butterflies in my stomach. We waited there at the starting line (in the back because... i like the back?) and finally the gun went off. There were crazy people who were sprinting this entire thing. I told myself that all I wanted to do was finish the race, I wasn't going to care how I did, I was just going to be proud that I actually went out there and ran 3.1 miles (for the first time ever).

While I was running I was trying my hardest to keep my form, but I just couldn't. I had so much going on in my head like "there are so many hills!" " my throat is so dry, I should have brought some hard candies" " I'm so hot!! I want to take my long sleeve shirt off" that I was running and landing on my heel. So.. today my shins hurt like crazy.
But seriously, there were so many hills, at one point there was a hill with a serious 70 degree incline, it was hard enough walking up that hill, I can't imagine running up that bad boy. Going down was just as bad, I wasn't even going to try to run down that thing! If you know me, you know I would have tripped and fallen rolling down that hill or I would have majorly rolled my ankle. Or both. Because I'm that awesome.

What we ran in Salt Lake ( i miss being at sea level.. i hate high elevation)

What we're used to running. Flat lands (at 3,865 ft, but still).

Coming back seemed alot longer than going out, but we made it. I made myself run and hard as I could (as if it really mattered) to the finish line. Nikki pulled ahead of me (which is fine be me) and beat me by a tenth of a second. haha.

It was fun, and I'm definitely addicted to doing races and even running.
I'm so glad that I actually finished the couch to 5k program, and I"m so glad that I had a running buddy to do it with. Without her, I probably wouldn't have stuck with the program and I'd still be sitting on my butt on the couch wishing I could run. But now I know that I can run.

It's exciting really. Being able to do something that I've never done before.