A new experience…

I did something today that was completely out of my element but on my list of things I wanted to complete. I did a 5k. I trotted down the road like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day. It was my first one ever and I’m hoping not my last. This post is going to have some great things and some reflections. I don’t want to say bad things because they weren’t bad, but things that I’ve learned and now am able to reflect on. Let’s keep it positive because I did have some fun.

First things first. Who am I? Who gets up early in the morning to go walk/run for three miles with people you don’t know dressed up like turkeys? Apparently, I do. These are things I’m now interested in. Thirty-eight years on this Earth and that was a first for me. Honestly, though, three years ago, I would never have done it or even signed up for one. Now, I won’t lie and say that I’ve never had the want to do it because I have. This was actually on my list of things to complete soon. Before starting this journey, I’d always had the dream of being one of these types of people that do things like this for fun. I’m working on it, still, but I’ll get there.

So my first experience was really good. I’m going to tell you that I was super nervous because my athletic ability is still being worked on but I had been working on this for awhile so I knew i could finish it but I had some reservations. My first one being that I am slow. I used to be faster but after my first injury with my foot, my time has slowed down considerably. Just something I have to keep working on. Second, I was completely nervous on what to do. I’ll admit it was hard but I had the advantage because I had Melissa, my Plyo partner in crime, by my side. If it wasn’t for her and her sister, I might have bolted from the scene. It would not have been my finest moment but, nonetheless, still a possible outcome. Three, the feeling of just not belonging there. Honestly, it’s just people doing what they enjoy doing, helping out a good cause, or even people like me who are trying to just see if they can do it. I even ran into some people I knew there. Everyone there has their own reason they got up that morning to do the race, just like me.

BEFORE THE RACE—So, I had fun before the race started. We laughed, took some pictures, did some Zumba. It wasn’t as stressful but things kind of change as time starts getting closer and nerves start to kick in. There are so many people waiting to start so I started to get ready. I had my lacrosse ball so I rolled my feet and stretched like Carlos taught me. All helpful things to have done before we took off.

DURING THE RACE— So, we take off a few minutes after the first wave so that kind of threw me off. Again, I keep thinking about time. Then right when we hit the starting line, Melissa reminded us to start our watches. I was so obsessed with the clock on the starting line that I almost forgot! Then we took off. Back to speed…I was faster than I normally was but I know I can be faster. Everything really is mental in situations like this because you just want to do your best. It seems silly to think about but even if it is just for fun, for me, it really was something that I will remember forever. I have never done anything like that before. I talk like a ran a full marathon, but to me, this was my marathon. A lot of the work I have put into myself has been because I want to be able to do things like this and not struggle. As I did this, I struggled off and on. I toggled between the two because I really didn’t know what to expect from anything and sometimes, again, didn’t feel like I belonged there. You really have to tell your brain to shut up because it can get in the way of having fun. That happened a couple of times. My fight or flight tried to take over but I had to push through and that was only for three miles. I couldn’t let it win, though. I’m glad I had some friends there with me. It’s funny because when I started I told Melissa that it was good because it was just a little bit more than 5 times around the block of Plyofit. I could do that. No problem. Towards the end, I’ll admit, I was tired, Melissa told me that we were “at the mailbox” which helped me to realize that we only had a quarter of a mile left. It was great to see the finish line. A sense of accomplishment was nice after that hard work.