Woohoo! I did it! I reached my goal of running the entire 5K! Runner 24421 finished in a time of approximately 33:35. Not exactly a fast time, but that wasn’t my goal. My goal was to run the whole thing with no walking, and that was accomplished. Man, I’m feeling so good right now. I can’t help but give a shout of joy and exuberance!

Going into the race, I knew I needed to keep my own pace and from the start I did. Shortly after the start, I found someone who was going my pace and followed until about the 1 mile marker. She then stopped to walk and I was on my own. Mile 2 was the toughest for me, as the course was still going away from the finish, I was getting closer to my limit of endurance and I had to keep my own pace. Once I reached mile 2 marker, however, I knew I had it licked. That was a remarkable feeling to have. The last mile flew by and I even had enough energy at the end to sprint. That end-of-run adrenaline rush is a think of beauty! After finishing, I was feeling great and wasn’t completely exhausted like last time. I’m actually feeling like another run right now! I think I probably could have quickened my pace and still done okay. Something to work on…

I was pondering about the things that were different this time, the things that allowed me to run the entire distance, rather than stopping and walking as I had done before. Three things come to mind.

First, I had a better breakfast. Bananas and fruit this time - toast and milk last time. Take my advice and never have toast and milk before a run. That’s all I had around the house then, and I knew I needed to eat, but it would have been better to stop somewhere before the race. This time, I made sure I was stocked up on better food and drink and it definitely helped.

Second, I had music this time around. My Shuffle kept me company and kept my mind off of running for portions of the route. Boomin’ by tobyMac got the energy pumping at the start.

Lastly, I had more confidence coming into the event. The 28-minute continuous run I had a few weeks ago was a huge confidence booster, and I knew at that point that I had it in me. Confidence is a huge factor when it comes to keeping yourself going at those moments when you want to stop.

Thanks to Jeremy for coming out and doing the 5K with me!

Next up? I’m thinking about doing the Redlegs 5K again and getting my time under 30mins. After that… My brother is trying to talk me into doing the half-marathon in NashVegas next year. Yeah, we’ll have to see about that…

Time for a nap and then I’m going out to celebrate. Woohoo!

[UPDATE: Officials times were posted. I came in at 33:30.]