running shoes and shorts does not a runner make

February 26, 2012-  I did it.  I finished my second 5K.  My first was about a year ago, in Washington D.C. with my gal pals.  But that is another blog post yet to be posted.  By the way, if you have stumbled across this blog post in the hopes of an inspirational or in depth running blog you have come to the wrong place. 

I have no intentions of making this a regular habit or past time.  Truth is I hate running, but I have a pair of running shoes and shorts anyway.  It is a challenge and something good for me so I figure I can do it on occasion.  This one was for our Harper PTO.  And so many people I knew would be doing it that I figured I had no good reason not to.  It's not like I have an injury that keeps me from doing it.  

Here's my friend Leigh Anne and I before the race.  She is a real runner and loves doing it.  She finished first in our age group.  I finished just before the first group of walkers.  

I have been "training" for this for about a month.  And by training I mean I get on the treadmill at the gym and force myself to run just to make sure I won't collapse on race day.  I don't work on speed or pacing or anything technical.  I wouldn't even know how.

The race was at 2:30 in the afternoon and the weather was P.E.R.F.E.C.T.    It was on the backstreets of Harper, which by the way is really the only kind of streets we have.  The course was very rural- just the way I like it- with the occasional smell of barnyard animals wafting through the route.  But running past the lot where someone was burning every dead tree on location just about did me in.  So much for the training...I thought I might need a few long drags of oxygen from some of Harper's finest in the VFD.

I shouldn't even say I ran the race considering I walked for a good portion of it.  I am not one that can just tell myself to keep going.  That doesn't work for me.  And this day was no exception.  I started off okay but didn't even make it to the first mile marker before I set into my stop-and-walk-for-a-bit routine.  Then we made the turn into the Catholic church parking lot.  I was running again but got a small pebble in my shoe that worked itself straight down my Achilles tendon to my heel.  Satan trying to take me down? Perhaps.  So I made a quick stop to get rid of it.

Then it was on to a few more small hills and down a road that I never realized was so LONG.  And at the end was the turn around and I had to go back down that road again!  Then I saw the 2 mile marker and couldn't believe I was only at 2 miles and had another 1.2 to go.

I really should have brought along a camera so I could capture some of the funny scenes along the route.  Like this creature.  Thankfully he didn't spit on me.  (I did not go back later and take this picture; I borrowed it from, believe it or not, an on-line report of the Harper 5K).

I hit the 3 mile marker and my calves were killing me.  I thought I had stretched them enough prior to the start.  I think I ran without stopping for the last .2 miles and it felt really good to see the finish line.  Plus I had been passed by someone in their 7th or 8th generation of life, and there was a group of walkers not far behind so I figured I should pick up the pace just a bit.

I finished in 39:27.  All you runners, go ahead and laugh, but I can still claim it as a personal best.  Finishing almost last is better than not finishing.  And even better than not starting.

Casey stayed home with the boys at the start of the race and they came up to the park to catch me at the finish but missed me by about 5 minutes.  I guess Casey really did believe me when I told him I was slow.   Pecos even made a sign for me.  It said "Go Mom #1".

In the spirit of a friend that is a real runner (and also a blogger), here's a list of things I learned:

1.- I still do not like to run, even if it is PERFECT running conditions.

2.- I should carry a camera to take pictures of the crazy things on the route.

3.- I should not attempt to run and grab a cup of water.

4.- My wearing of a Beef Running Team shirt may be an embarrassment to their program.

5.- I really need to get the iTunes program sorted out on my iMac so I can get a better play list going.

6.- I need to have someone at a running store fit me for my next pair of shoes, even if I'm not "a runner".