Tonight was a moment of accomplishment in my life. I finished my first 5k. I have to say it was downright ugly at times, but I lived to tell about it. It was one of those things I never thought I would accomplish.
From the start I knew it was going to be eventful. It was a trail run and it rained here yesterday. I'm sure you can see where this is going. So the race gets going and my feet keep getting stuck in the mud. My calves are burning from the extra exercise they are just not used to. I keep chugging along shamefully behind a group of 10 year olds.
Just before the halfway point people start passing me (I found out it was a 2 lap loop.) Anyway, I figured I was going way too slow and tried to step it up a bit. Big mistake! I find myself in the middle of a minor asthma attack. I bust out my inhaler and slow down to a walk. I continue on my way through the woods and twist my ankle on one of the many, many roots throughout the path. Not cool. At this point I see the path leaving the woods and continue on my way. I see the halfway point and jog in. I have to be honest. Every last bit of me wanted to quit. My breathing was just beginning to return to normal and my ankle was throbbing. If not for the fact I was running at a decent pace for myself I probably would have stopped.(they had a clock up so you could see your time)
Nevertheless, I decided I had to press on. I continued on my way, but decided to walk until the throbbing in my ankle went down. After about halfway of the second half I felt confident in my abilities and began jogging again. By this point I had lost all sight of the ten year olds and figured I was in last for sure. I just wanted to finish. I change my MP3 player to Mercy Me and just busted out the best I could. Just as I got back to the end for the second time the man was directing the runners told me he was impressed I made it that far and had figured there was no way I was going to do both laps. He told me I was 200 feet from the finish line. As I turned the corner I finally got the group of ten year olds back in my sight.
In the end, I finished right behind them. I'm not sure where I finished, but I do know I didn't come in last, or second to last, or even third to last. To be honest I'm really bummed I pushed myself over nothing. Only three or four people ended up lapping me and it ended up costing me a bunch of time. I finished right around my normal time, but had I not had the asthma attack and bummed out my ankle I could have done pretty well. My competitiveness got the best of me and in the end cost me time and spots.
The moral of todays story: Don't worry about those around you. Compete with yourself, you're the only one who can really gauge where you are.
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