On Friday I told Carlos that my big plans for the weekend were to sleep. This was true, but I also had plans for a small challenge for myself, a 5K, specifically the "Race for Red Cross" at Al Lopez Park. That distance is equal to about 3.1 miles, not a cross-country feat by any means, but I've never been a runner and honestly, I'm not one of those people who can say "I love running! It makes me feel alive!" I'm the person who says, "It makes my lungs hurt and my knees ache." Oh, and when I run, I sweat, which I'm not a huge fan of.
So why did I sign up? Well, I wanted to give myself a fitness goal and I figured signing up for a race would get me to train for said race. I was talking with a friend who said she runs one 5K a month. That way she always has one on the calendar. It keeps her on track. I'm totally stealing her idea.
So race #1 was this morning. I went by myself and out of the couple hundred people there, I didn't recognize a soul (but I did see a mini-van with a Spirit FM sticker!). My goal was to run the entire distance. I told myself the finishing time didn't matter. I could try to improve on it for my next race. I just wanted to keep running.
Even though a 5K is a novice runner's distance, I was still very intimidated. It was a pretty small group, so I was fearful of coming in dead last. There were a lot of different types of people there, but all I could see were the people who looked like runners. One woman had an iron-girl t-shirt on. Others had rock-hard abs. There were two ladies that couldn't have been under 60 and as they walked by me I thought to myself, "Those ladies are going to smoke me." I could just tell. One girl in particular that kept catching my eye was blond, with a great tan, pink shorts and really cool ear buds for her iPod. I'll call her "Miss Pink Shorts." She looked to be about 21. She arrived with a guy who looked about the same age. From a distance, I watched them do a little warm up together and as I stretched alone, I thought, "They look like they belonge out here." Miss Pink Shorts was going to be good. We all lined up and I headed for the back of the pack.
The horn blew and we started running. The first song on my iPod was The Benjamin Gate, "Lift Me Up," a great song for running. This is going to sound silly, but as the pack moved along the first few yards, I almost started crying. Partly because I was really proud of myself, but mostly it was because as I looked around I saw things differently and I noticed that I totally fit in. The man right in front of me was probably about 70. A girl who had a really cute hair band on was right next to me and running a pretty slow pace. I didn't feel so bad anymore.
There was a group of about 50 guys and girls doing some Army workouts before the race started. As we ran along the path they were at the sidelines cheering. To have a group of guys with high & tight haircuts sporting Army shirts clapping for you, that's a good feeling.
So, as A Flock of Seagulls said, "I Ran." I did a pretty good job too. I don't know my finishing time because what I saw on the clock at the finish line didn't match up to the timer on my iPod. I'll have to check the website that is going to post our times. I don't really care though, because I ran the whole way, all 3.1 miles (or 5 kilometers if you're anywhere other than the U.S.). I actually passed people during the run and afterwards a girl came up to me to ask me if I knew my time because she noticed that I was in front of her. I was in front of someone! I was actually in front of a lot of someones. When I finished the race I went towards the food and grabbed an apple and a little protein bar. I milled around a bit and then went back towards the finish line. I saw people still crossing. One of those people was Miss Pink Shorts. Hmm.
I really had a good time this morning. I am proud that I didn't listen to the voice inside of me that said, "It was only $20 to enter. Consider it a donation to the Red Cross and go back to sleep!" I'm even more proud that I learned a valuable lesson today. I've always known not to judge a book by it's cover. I shouldn't have made assumptions about the people I saw today. But I also came to realize we shouldn't put labels or limits on ourselves. We could be robbing ourselves of a good time, a valuable friendship, a life changing experience, or a new challenge. You'll never know what obstacles you can overcome if you don't try. If anyone knows of a good 5K in July (I like it where there are bagels at the end - or hot dogs!), let me know. I'm in!
-Abby
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