AB and Me

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Recap: My First 5K

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I didn’t get much sleep Thursday night. Blake chose the worst time to be fussy and partly because I’m too anxious. Race starts at 7.
 
I set my alarm at 5 AM. Took a bath, got dressed and picked up my kit. We were out the door by 530. We had to stop for some gas and bought some bananas and water. Then off we go. The drive was pretty quick.
 
 
By the time we got to the Palm, the traffic was crawling. I could see people getting out of their cars and running towards the entrance. It’s 0645. We’re going to be late!!
 
The parking lot was full … and a mess! I got stuck twice before some guy gave me directions where there’s more parking space. Cool! We’re going to make it after all!
 
We saw that there was a long line at the toilets. And again, its a mess. As I was parking, the gun fired. Which means the 10K runners are off! Which means we only have 15 minutes to stretch and get to the starting line.  
 

We parked, we stretched and we got to the starting line. We were somewhere in the middle of the pack. While waiting for our turn, I was busy preparing my running playlist and my runkeeper app. I was also tweeting! LOL

 
Countdown!
And we’re off! Just as I was passing the starting line, I turned on my runkeeper app and playlist. And just my luck, first song on the list …
 
Fix You – Cold Play. 
 
I’m telling you, never start with Fix You. I was emotional the whole time. Tears literally running down my face and I haven’t even reached 500 meters! 
 
It is a really moving song. And all my emotions just went haywire. I suddenly realized that I’m doing it. I’m doing my first 5K. And I will make it. Even if I have to crawl my way back!
 
I ran. The first kilometer. Nonstop. (This is a big deal for me, k? This is the first time I ran a straight K). Then I started walking….I needed to catch my breath. Crying while running is not easy. That’s when I tweeted :
 
 
I carried on walking for a bit…then I checked my twitter timeline and saw:
 
 
 
Thank you Neilroberts01. Whoever you are. I started running again…slowly this time. Keeping my pace. Every now and then I would walk just to catch my breath. At the 2K mark, I passed the water station. Got a bottle and took a sip. Started running again. 
 
 
 
There was an odd smell around the 3 K mark. It didn’t make it any easier for me. I carried on alternating my run and walk. 
 
 

At the 4K mark, I decided to finish hard. Whatever that means. I passed the finish line … running. YAY!!

 
 
Race results: 
 
 
46:48. Just about right. 
Next time, I hope to do better. 

 

 

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Comments

  2. shoutingwind says

    Thanks Kero! I’m still a work in progress. 🙂
    Walking for 30 – 60 mins a day helps. It also clears my mind. I’m lucky to live near the park where I can jog/walk whenever.

    Reply

  4. shoutingwind says

    Thanks Lizzie!! I was certain I would be crawling my way back. I saw someone sitting by the gutter and a medic was attending to her. A fallen comrade. I’m sure she fought hard.

    Reply

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