Here is a brief but complete history of my running:
Spring, ninth grade:
After a successful year of varsity diving, I thought I might be able to transfer my newly found jumping and falling skills onto the ground, so I went out for track, hoping to high jump. The coach never bothered to learn my name or even let me try out the high jump. I was put on the "sprinters" team and went to one meet, where I ran the 100m and the 200m. I got last place in the 100m. I also got last place in the 200m, but this was a more notable last place finish because 200 meters was just long enough for me to get ridiculously behind and finish way after everybody else. After that, I quit, partly because my parents didn't want me running track anyway, but mostly because I was really bad at it and wasn't even given a chance to jump. Wah.
Summer, after freshman year at BYU:
I returned home for the summer and promptly began gaining weight. My dad's cooking was apparently more substantial than my regular diet of rice, stir fry, and ramen noodles. So I started running every day after work. This was a pretty big accomplishment for me, even though I was never running more than a mile. It kept me from gaining weight, but it did not instill a love for running. I am still skeptical that actually loving running is possible
Anyway, this is all prefacing the fact that I ran a 5K last weekend. I think you needed the context to understand what a shocker this is.
I saw an ad for a women-only 5K run/walk and 10K run and decided I might as well try it, and I invited Melanee to do it with me. And I started training. Kenji made fun of me that I had to actually train for a 5K, but he is a big lame. But besides the mental hurdles, I had another problem:
These are my running shoes. They are the ones my parents bought me when I went out for track. That's right. Dem's 1998 shoes. They really haven't been used much, but they were obviously old, and they didn't have any support on account of being children's shoes.
So I needed new shoes. On the one had, I was now going to be training for a real race. On the other hand, I am cheap, and I didn't know how much more running I would do after this 5K. So I went for a pair of used shoes on eBay, and they ended up serving me well.
On to the race. For various reasons, I wasn't able to train very much, so I had still never run more than a mile and it was suddenly the night before I was supposed to run 3.1. I went to their ridiculous "Diva Night" to pick up my bib number, timing chip, and t-shirt. It was poorly organized, and I stood in line for over an hour and a half while vendors tried to convince me to sample their essential oils or energy drinks or slumber parties. That night, I was nervous and did not sleep well at all.
Ok, really on to the race this time. We got to Sugar House Park and met up with George and Melanee. She was doing the 10K, which started before the 5K.
After she was off, my 5K started.
It was a fun feeling, running amidst hundreds of other women. It also helped me start off at a good pace--not too fast--and I felt good for a while. I knew it would more of a mental battle than a physical one, so I kept having to convince myself this was worth it. Then came the hills. There were two big hills in the park, and the 5K route was to go around the park twice. The hills were hard. It was hard to keep myself going when there were so many others around me who were walking.
To make an already long story not too much longer, I walked some of the time, but ran most of the time. It is a big accomplishment for me, and I had a good time. A good enough time to be willing to do it again sometime.
Here I am completing the first lap:
It doesn't look like it, but I am running.
Then, the finish line came into view.
And here I am, running through
Whew. It felt good to finish, and I didn't feel like I'd die at the end.
Then I rehydrated while we waited for Melanee's amazing finish. And here we are, triumphantly sweaty together
So that's it. It was fun. We'll see if my running career continues.
Here is a parrot that was in a tree in the park:
The End.
