We've been in Orlando for 3 days now and are having a great time! This morning we awoke before the sun came up to participate in the 5K Run for Reproductive Health at the conference I am attending. Over 250 attendees had registered and the air was buzzing with excitement when we arrived. Given our very minimal training for this run, we were a bit intimidated to see the fit people we were running with!
As the sun began to rise, we started out on our adventure - 2 long laps around the convention centre. We managed to start out right at the front of the pack, but unfortunately didn't stay there very long! Within a few hundred metres of starting, hoards of people had already blazed by us! I must say, this was a bit discouraging to see, however we didn't want to increase our pace too much knowing we would have to try to sustain our energy. I definitely had more of a struggle than Alex (having recently completed his sub-23 minute charity run) who breezed along beside me as I huffed and puffed my way along. This just goes to show how helpful a running buddy can be to keep you motivated to push on.
As we completed our first lap, we were still steadily being passed by people. At one point I thought we may have fallen to the very end of the pack which was very discouraging. Luckily my running buddy kept me going! We finished the run under our goal time by 1:30! And I was very happy to see that many runners kept crossing the finish line for about 10 minutes after we did!
At the finish line they had water and snacks for us. Alex enjoyed the protein bars so much, they gave us an entire box to take home with us!
Even though we didn't complete the race anywhere near the lead runners, I learned that you can push through adversity if you put your mind to it. Having someone there to encourage you along is helpful, whether it be to finish a race, lift a heavier weight or inspire you when you are second guessing yourself.
-Tannys
No comments:
Post a Comment