The cycle of my 5k: excitement, adrenaline, exhaustion, victory!

How on earth did I get talked into doing this? Is it because I wanted to bond with my dear roommates? Was it to feel good about myself? Was it the promise of a free t-shirt and food when (if) I finish?

To tell you the truth, probably a combination of all of these things. I am certainly no runner (I made a post about National Running Day over the summer that should explain how much of a non-runner I really am) but I thought that maybe if I had some sort of motivation that it would encourage me to finally get off my butt and get in shape already. My roommate is actually a big runner (we have no idea where it came from, he just decided one day to start running…so he did. These are the times when I hate him…) so when he said he was doing a 5k and asked the rest of the apartment to join him…we said yes. I’m not sure who was more shocked: him or us.

Anyway, with our spoken consent there was really no backing out because if we did we would never hear the end of it. (“Hope you had fun sleeping in while I was becoming super athlete, etc., etc., blah, blah.”) So my other roommate and I decided we should practice/train/anticipate our impending death by going for a mock 5k at the gym. And can I tell you? It actually didn’t turn out all that badly! Was I a hot steaming mess of sweat (you’re welcome) afterwords? Of course I was! Did I not move for hours afterwards? Certainly! But the feeling I got after, to know that I can actually do this if I get over that part of my brain that tries to tell me that I can’t? Man, it’s a great feeling.

So how did the race turn out, inquiring minds are asking?

I finished with a 31:44 (officially!) so for a first timer, it feels pretty good. Most importantly though, I’m really proud that I actually did finish because, let me tell you, at 8:00 on a Sunday morning it didn’t really seem possible. It turns out though that mind over matter really makes a difference and when my brain stopped thinking about how tired or bored or cold I was…I could do amazing things.

You know I’ve got a message now right? Obviously I can’t write an inspirational story without a moral so here it goes: whatever you want to do, whether it be for sport or for school or for your future, don’t let anything hold you back. As long as you’ve got the drive, great things can happen.

So, like Nike says, Just do it. :)

Until next time,