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(Jodi, Kelly and Kelleigh)

Yep! I ran in another 5k yesterday! I wasn’t going to tell you guys about it beforehand because of all the pressure I knew I would feel to beat my previous race time. Honestly, I totally regretted signing up for this race. Jodi and I have been running a longer distance lately, but we were doing the run/walk/TALK-and-have-a-blast thing instead of the intense training thing. (Side note: Jodi is preggo and she’s still a running fool! I’m so proud of her, because I sat on my rear-end during both of my pregnancies.)

However, I paid the $$ and now I just HAD to show up. I am SO glad I did, because the Keizer Iris Festival 5k was a BLAST!!

First of all, the shirt rocks. AND, as we all know, it is all about the shirt. Since I signed up early, I got a super cool, blue, dri-fit shirt that is fitted (you know, for curves!!). I will definitely be wearing this one over and over. Yeah. It really is ALL about the shirt.

AND, there were all kinds of people there. People I recognized from my neighborhood (which is kinda funny since Keizer is about 25-30 min. away from Dallas), from college, and from my sister-in-law’s group of friends. It was kinda like a big party/reunion out there! People of all levels of fitness were represented. The big-time sponsored runners were at the front of the start, while the “normal” people like me were somewhere in the middle of about 500 people. There was all kinds of laughing and talking just seconds before the starting signal, and then we were OFF!

The start was a little rocky, since there were walkers near the front, so we had to wrangle our way around them. I’d say that whole thing tacked about 30 seconds on to my time. Or maybe 1 minute. Sounds good. We’ll just blame my longer finishing time on the rocky start, okay? Yeah.

The course was straight up and back on a paved road, FILLED with spectators. There was a little rise (which my body hardly noticed, because I’m so tough) and I got into my groove about 10 minutes into the run. Typical. I’m so slow!

I was a smiling fool the entire time. I’m telling you, IT WAS FUN! Yeah. Running was fun. (The thought still shocks me.)

The people on the road were ringing their bells and clapping and shouting encouragement. The police officers holding the traffic back cheered us on. About 3/4 of the way up to the turn-around, the race leaders were running past me in the opposite direction. What a rush to see them giving it everything they had. Of course, I had to sacrifice some air to yell encouragement to the leading female. She was awesome!!

Jodi, her son, Alec, and her best friend and first time 5Ker, Kelly, ran with me. I lost them at the start because I was so concerned about not running into people while waving at my boys. I think that is probably a good thing, because I find that I get SO tired when I try to fit my stride and breathing into someone else’s pace. I’m just not good at that. I guess I’m a loner when it comes to racing. It turns out that they were not much further behind me the whole race. Alec actually came up to run with me (and TALK while I gasped) for a little while, but then he got bored and took off to beat me.

My finishing time was officially 32:40, and I came in 22nd in my age group. Yeah, it IS slower than my last 5k, but I felt SO much better than I did last time. I actually felt like I could have kept going at that pace for another couple of miles. Not dying at all. I kinda wish I had run all-out at the very end, but I was having too much fun grinning and waving at my fans!!

No regrets, though. I FINISHED, and I loved it.

How are the rest of you Couch to 5k-ers doing with your running? I want some updates!! (You KNOW who you are, people!!)