5K-Check!

On June 6th, Charlie and I ran the Herndon Festival 5K with our friends, Joy, Jarrod, Chris, Kristine and Melanie. Now, let me state right here that I am not a "runner". I have a love/hate relationship with the activity. I love that its cheap, quick, that you can do it anywhere, and how good I feel when I've done it. I hate how 5 bajillion different things can determine if I feel awesome or supremely crappy when I run (weather, attire, what I ate that day, etc). Sometimes I feel like superwoman when I run. But most of the time: I feel "eh" and do it because I want to stay healthy and it's convenient.

That said, running a 5K was on my "bucket list" and when our friends suggested it, I wasn't totally opposed. It did take some convincing but I'm so glad I did it. Though it was hot as Hades the day we ran, it felt awesome crossing the finish line (and knowing I wasn't the last one!). Charlie, Joy and Jarrod stayed with me and though Jarrod will tell you I "set the pace", he's lying. All three of them run faster than I do and have competed in various 10 mile races and relay races and other endurance running nonsense. ;) But they were so nice to run with me and made me feel great. We ran the race in 33 minutes and 50 seconds which is a 10:55 mile. I know that may sound slow to some but it was my best time out of all my training runs so I was happy. I was also happy because I finished 17th out of 39 in my age group (20-29). Which, incidentally, didn't include any of my running friends except Charlie but he was in the "male" category (obviously) and he turns 30 in November so he barely made it in the "youngin" category with me.

Joy and I before the race

Charlie, me, Joy and Jarrod before the race

Chris (it was his birthday and he was feeling sick and STILL ran the race, it was his first 5K too!), Kristine and Melanie as we wait to start running

This man is waaaay to happy about running 3.1 miles

At the beginning of the race when I mumbled "Honey, please STOP taking my picture" as this was picture 7 and we had run about .2 miles. P.S. did not know until I looked at these pictures that you could see my sports bra right through my shirt. I spared you the more "obvious" ones.

Almost to the finish line, hence the concentration and seriousness on my face. Charlie and Jarrod, again, both way to happy.

The four of us after the race- NOW I smile. :)

Before we ran I vowed to Charlie that I would never do one again. However, once we finished, I was already talking about signing up for one in the fall. What can I say- I'm fickle.