First 5K Race Recap!

What a wonderful Sunday! Sure, I got up earlier than usual on Sundays…ok, a lot earlier. But it was totally worth it!

I have officially participated in my first 5K! It was honestly perfect for me. For the sake of brevity here are some recap points:

• My time was 33:51. Obviously not the fastest, but I finished and didn’t walk once!
• Umm…hills in central Florida? When did that happen? haha – there was a not-so-fun hill at the half way point. But I’m happy to say I still kept going, and was one of the only people around me at the time who didn’t stop to walk up the hill.
• I debated bringing my inhaler with me but I didn’t, and probably should have. Let’s just say I forgot how much smoggier Orlando is than Winter Haven. First thing I did when I finished was get my inhaler (well, after hugs from Meghann and Caitlin!).
• Runners are SO nice! From high fives from Meghann and Caitlin along the way, to words of encouragement everyone shouted each other, it was so nice!
• The route was actually really fun for me because I got to pass some places that hold some memories for me. I passed by the David’s Bridal where I got my wedding dress, and passed a hotel where I used to go to competitions when I was actively competing in flute performance.
• I actually got a plaque for first place in my age division! Caitlin got first place for overall female in the 5K and Meghann got third overall. Congrats ladies, you rock!
• My only complaint? A couple jerk car drivers who in fact sped up to try to beat a runner about to cross a road, making the runner then wait/ detour around them. Jerks.

Here are some fun pictures from the pre and post-race. (Pictures are from mine, Meghann’s, and Caitlin’s cameras, mostly taken by Ross haha).

Me, Caitlin, and Meghann pre-race:

Caitlin cheering me on as I’m coming up on the finish line:

Me and my first place plaque: (my expression = “meh, not bad!”)
Us three ladies with our plaques.

Yay! What a fun time that I’m so glad I did. Afterwards we went to a fun healthy breakfast/ lunch restaurant called First Watch. Love it!

Now I need to thank a very special someone – he’s helped me get ready by running with me, helping me stretch out, being my best friend, and being my husband! Thank you so much Ross for being there! Thank you for waking up early with me and driving us to the 5k. Thanks for being the awesome photographer for us three girls. Thanks for supporting me in every way possible in all aspects of my life.

And because he’s so supportive, last night when I made dinner he goes “aren’t you going to take a picture and blog about it?” haha, I originally wasn’t because it was such an easy, but in honor of him, here was last night’s dinner:

My super easy trick? To make a blah linguine and sauce dinner special, heat up your sauce with some added protein (for us last night it was 1 shredded chicken breast, we each ended up having about 1/4 or 1/3) and then add a little bit of wine to it. I added a little bit of Shiraz I had open, and this is seriously the EASIEST way to make a cheap store-bought pasta sauce taste like it’s homemade.

Hope everyone has a relaxing Sunday! I know I’m enjoying the rest of my day (hehe, Elf is on tv right now!)