One small step

I'm more principle-driven than goal-oriented. For me, that seems to give God more leeway to rule in my life than setting specific expectations. Nonetheless, one "goal" I had for myself this year (well last year actually) was to run an actual 5K race. I run about 9 miles a week and have done so for over a year now, so I've covered the distance many times over. I also do all of my running (so far) outside instead of using a treadmill.

But I knew there would be a different dynamic when 673 other people were running the same course. One thing I didn't know was where to walk into the starting corral. C and L (my cheering team for this race) thought I should start near the front, but I knew MANY people would be passing me and I didn't want to get run over (literally).

The race was the Yiasou Greek Festival 5k and all I really wanted was a t-shirt, my two free tickets to the festival (a yearly date nite tradition for B and I), and to finish under 16min/mile without stopping or dying.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a brother from our church (he encouraged me the last 400 meters to finish strong) who was also running so that was nice.

I finished 561st out of 674 runners with a 5K time of 31min, 39seconds. My iPod told me I also ran a personal best for the mile, which was cool. I averaged a little over 10min, 12 sec/mile, so goal met. I knew I started faster than normal, but I wasn't sure if I could keep it up all the way. The top three uber-runners in my age group (40-44) ran a 17 minute race so my time is about twice theirs. I finished 79th out of 104 dudes in my age group.

Overall, I think I was able to find open spaces in the crowd to run comfortably in. I didn't dare look behind me 'cause I knew that would slow me down. I was also really tempted to join the growing crowd of walkers during the last half of the race, but I've promised myself never to stop until the end. (keep putting one foot in front of the other and listen to the tunes)

My camera battery was low but C did manage to get one pic of me right after the race. Boy, I look beat! (=

Now I'll start training for a 10k. All glory goes to God for endurance and strength to persevere. He is good!!