Running to Finish

Today I got to run my first 5k! It made me incredibly nervous- I hate doing things that I'm not good at and with all the health problems I've been having and Austin's work schedule I've only been running once or twice a week consistently.  My friends Stacey and Riann who are "real runners" and did the 15k were so encouraging and kind to me, though, and made me feel much better about the fact that I was running to finish and not running to be good :)

(If I keep running....can I look like them?)

We did the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k which was a little bit of a logistic nightmare- they didn't really think about their being only one entrance into National Harbor, so the traffic was insane, but we got to parking okay (eventually) and our being late helped since they started the race almost an hour late.

I didn't get to run at the pace I'd hoped to keep the whole time since the 5k bottlenecked through a tunnel almost immediately, but, again, I was running to run (insomuch as the crowd of 20,000 allowed) the entire 3 miles, which I did.

At the end of the race there was hot chocolate and chocolate fondue, and then I went to cheer on the 15k people while I waited for Riann and Stacey.  They did such a great job- I hope that in a few decades I can keep up with them!! They were also very sweet to be so kind to me when they ran 3 times as long and 10 times as fast.  I actually really enjoyed doing a race and I'm excited to do another!