Race for Red....

Before the race, really am I smiling & acting excited about this??? hmmmm

Amy & I crossing the finish line....whew, glad that is over!!!

The heart challenge participants of 2010 (minus the Winters, Michelle & Betty) way to go to all of us!!!

Matt & I at the finish, now THIS smile is really genuine since I am glad to be done....

4:45 the alarm goes off, I groan....this is nothing, I am usually at the gym by this time every morning, going strong....oh yes, I remember now, it is Saturday, the day I have waited for, dreaded, worried about, dreamed about, looked forward to - my first 5K....the race for red is finally here. 100 days ago, it was just a dream, one more thing on my bucket list, one thing that I would work for "later"....later is here, my bucket list ready to have one more thing marked off from it, today was the day!!

Matt is an incredible runner, he has been running since October, so he is good at running, me on the other hand, started a month ago....I don't run, I hate running, I don't feel any "good" from it, but I wanted to do it....I started going slow on the tread mill about a month ago, running just a little, just to see if I could do it...I could, but I didn't want to tell anyone - telling someone would make me accountable - I wanted to surprise Matt with my running (I ended up telling him about a week later, I am not a good secret keeper - when it comes to something fun - I am good at keeping confidences)

I didn't want to keep Matt from doing his best, so I told him, I want you to run your pace, not my slow, barely moving my behind pace....go ahead of me, run your best, after all this was his run too, not just about me....My mom was going to do the 5K with me, she wasn't sure if she could do the entire thing running, so she was going to walk. I knew I could do more than just walk, so I told her I wanted to try to run the entire thing, I didn't mean to leave her behind, it just happened....Matt's cousin & my good friend, Amy found out last week about the 5K, she wanted to do one, so asked if she could join me....she & I talked strategy & found out we were about the same in our running, so we decided to hook up & run....

What a rush, what a feeling of accomplishment!!

So glad that Matt was my support (even though you didn't come back to find me :) ), proud of my mom for doing it & winning 2nd in her age division!! Way to go MOM!! And glad to cross the finish line next to Amy....

I am excited that I did it, I am glad to check something off my list that was collecting dust, I am proud of my accomplishment, I fought a good fight & I came across the finish line RUNNING!!