After Months of Training....

Back in May, my sister and I were asked by a fellow Boy Scout volunteer if we would be interested in running. At first we laughed, but then we thought about how fun it would be to run a 5k race. Soon enough we were out at local park running a mile. A mile might not sound like a lot, but when you have never ran, except for those pointless mile runs in school where most people walked, it is a lot. Within a few weeks Ashley and I were up to a mile and a half without stopping! We spent the whole summer running 3 times a week. Each night we were scheduled to run, we met at a park and ran whatever distance was planned for that night. It was nice to run with other people and not by yourself. And it was also great to be able to tell people "oh, I just ran two and a half miles without stopping, nothing crazy" when asked what was up.

 

 

 

Finally, after months of training, Ashley and I signed up for our very first 5k race, the Four Seasons Parkway Run & Walk. We were told it was a really big and fun race, so we figured it would be the perfect first race!

 

 

The day of the race snuck up so quickly! We were so jittery all morning, excited to just go and run. Even though we had already picked up our race packets, we still got to Philly super early. We spent some time walking around before we met up with people on our team (we teamed up with a teacher from Ashley's school and his group). By time everyone was there, it was time to go to the starting line. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins as I waited for the race to start. Finally the gun went off! And off Ashley and I went! I stayed behind her for a good 3/4's of a mile or so. When I passed the one mile marker the time was around ten minutes so I felt great! The area we ran around was pretty and I had so much fun running with thousands of people. After 3.1 miles, I crossed the finish line at just under 35 minutes! My official time was 34:11, an 11 minute mile! I never have felt so accomplished before! Now I am excited to run another 5k in October :)