Winner at.....Running a 5K!!

My dedication to fitness over the last few months has surely resulted in a lack of time for things like blogging, but the upside is that I participated in my first 5K.....and my second!

Not knowing what to expect, my adrenaline was in overdrive for the first race, which dawned on the first really cool day in September, but at least it was sunny and clear out. I started out great, if a little overzealous and quickly realized if I didn't slow down i was going to hyperventilate - especially when I hit that first big hill less than a quarter mile into the race. It felt like I hit a BRICK WALL.

Fortunately, I relaxed and got my breathing back under control pretty quickly, but was afraid to push myself after that for fear of getting over-gassed again and having to stop. I was COMMITTED to seeing it through. I'm happy to report my hard work and commitment paid off with a nice 2nd place finish in my age group. Yippee!!

Knowing i didn't perform to my full potential (yes - I wanted first place, not second!!), I signed right up for my second 5K less than a week later. I trained really hard in between and was sad for the day of the race to dawn with heavy rain. Still, I decided to go ahead and tough it out and boy am I glad I did. I think it helped that I knew more what to expect, but I pushed myself steadily at a fast, but reasonable pace from the get-go....and lo and behold - FIRST PLACE!!! Yes, it was only in my age group, but I finished a minute faster than in my previous race, did well overall and it was enough to give me renewed motivation to keep up my running routine throughout the winter.

Yay for WINNING!!! Hope everyone out there is having a super winning week!