5K = 3.1 miles

I've decided to run a race tomorrow!  It's the Grissom High JROTC Wounded Warrier 5K.

I've done three 5Ks in the past (all were Races for the Cure), but I didn't do any of them to participate in a race.  The first one was in 1996.  I went just to be a part of something.  It was the most amazing experience!  It's my understanding that was the first year it was held in Arkansas and there were 7400 participants.  I did the whole thing pushing a double stroller (walking mostly, with some bursts of running)!  My daughter was just over 2 years old, and my son was just about to turn 4.  The following year, if I remember correctly, the participation grew to over 10,000.  Did I mention that all the participants in the 5K race were women!!!???  They had banned strollers in the 5K so my son and I did the 1 mile "fun run", while I pushed my daughter in the stroller.  He loved every minute of it...well, he loved the parts where we ran.  Mostly he loved that I was huffing and puffing saying I couldn't keep up with him!

Both times, it was amazing.

Several years later, after my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, my family (second husband, son, daughter, and step-son) walked in the Race for the Cure in NW AR.  That was not a good day for our family...but that's a story I don't care to tell.  We all wore "In Celebration of" placards on our shirts.  The race suddenly took on a whole new meaning.  Two years later, I participated in the race again.  This time as a woman going through her second divorce, with two friends who invited me along just to get me out of the house!

This will be the first 5K I will run as a true race participant!!  I am so excited.  I just saw the notice yesterday, thanks to being signed up on First Place Athletics' mailing list.  A big thanks to those guys for being so much more than just a store!

I'm not expecting to set any records or anything.....well, you know what, that's not true.  I will be setting a record, a personal record.  No matter what my time ends up being, it will be the fastest time I've ever set in a 5K to be sure.  So, I should say I have no expectation of winning, even in my age group.....but even that isn't true, depending on how you define "winning".  I'm going to be a winner in my own eyes just by doing the race.  I just won't be crossing the finish line first...but my hope is that I also won't be finishing it last!!  But, since this isn't a big time race (it's not the Huntsville Track Club list of races), and it's not a race for some cause...that might not be the truth either.  BUT, I'm still not going to let that stop me!

Wish me luck!  (You don't say "break a leg" to a runner, just "good luck"!!)  I don't know what to expect, but I'll be sure to post tomorrow night!!

Oh, by the way...that little 10 minute work out I did yesterday that I didn't think really did anything for me.......did something for me!  My back, arm, calf, and ...um (clears throat)... gluteus maximus muscles are a tad sore this morning!  How about that?!

Thanks for stopping by, come again soon!

:D