Run Forest-Run.....

I am not a runner.  Have I said that before?  I used to dread pre-season volleyball for the only reason that we had to run a timed mile.  My train of thought has always been that you should be running after something like a ball in order to make running fun.

About 2 months ago, I signed up to run a 5K in a nearby town wanting to challenge myself to get back into running and prove that I could run a 'race.'  

I was feeling good about being about to run the 3.1 miles, I was getting back into my groove of running a few times a week and almost enjoying the time on the streets with Gunner by my side.

Then Saturday came.   My first thought that morning was, "Why am I driving 30 miles so that I can run 3.1 miles?"  But, I kept going.....

Then I got to the registration table and checked in, got my shirt and number and started looking around.

"Holy crap!  These folks look like some  serious runners."   I was feeling a little less confident about being there after looking at all the people that were there to run that morning.    I overheard conversations about "this is just a pre-race for Grandma's Marathon that they were running in a few weeks" or "last weekend they did a half-marathon" and one person said, "they were bored this morning so decided to get up and run."

I almost, almost, talked myself out of running.

After some 'self' talk, I realized that I would never know what it's like to run in a race if I didn't just do it.  There was no one there that I knew and I was only accountable to myself.  

So, I stood at the starting line with the 'seasoned' runners and off we went.  Honestly I had 2 goals...  The first one was to run the whole time and the second one was to not be last.

The run started and the fast runners took off, the walkers found their groove and the rest of us in the 'middle' found our own rhythm.

I have to admit, it was fun.

It was fun to see all those people out exercising on a Saturday morning when they could have been still sleeping in bed.  It was awesome to see people of all ages out on the streets from grandparents to Mother/daughter/son/father teams.  It was cool to not really know where you were running, just that you knew enough to follow the crowd and that at some point there would be a finish line.

I can't say that I ran fast, but I did run the whole time.  I didn't come in first or last but somewhere in the middle which was just fine with me.  The best part of the whole race was the last 100 yards when people were lined up, cheering you on as you finished the race.  I felt like a track star.  Lol!

Am I a runner now? No, but I know that I can run a short race and not keel over in the process.

Next up-maybe, just maybe a 10K in August.