I did it!

Yes, there is good news in all this. On October 3rd, one day before my 42nd birthday, I ran my first 5K...and I did better than I ever imagined I would. My original goal was to do it in the spring but my injuries sidelined me for months. I never gave up and whenever I could, I kept running and building endurance.

I hadn't checked out the course beforehand, just signed up for the race. I was GOING to do this if it killed me. And it nearly did. The course was very hilly. Something I hadn't anticipated or prepared for. The weather was perfect and I was feeling great. I started slowly as others blew past me looking like they were running from a stampede of wild boar. I kept my pace and sped up on the downhills. I felt incredible. My breathing was good and my legs felt light. On the uphills I talked myself through. Then about a half mile from the end I noticed that the course went off road. Now I was running on sand and rock and it looked like I was about to go up the side of a hill. It was a pretty steep hill with loose rocks and branches and tree roots. I soldiered on. I got to the top and couldn't catch my breath and it was the first time I stopped. I had intended to run the entire race with no stopping so I talked my legs into running again after a 10 second reprieve.

Coming around a final corner I saw my boyfriend. He started jogging with me, pushing me to make it to the finish. And I did. With a time of 34:40:08 I finished and I was ecstatic.

That is until we got home. I opened the car door and went to get out. I couldn't set my foot down. It was like my muscles had locked up. The pain was excrutiating and I had to crawl to the front door. I lay on the floor writhing in pain. And the pain lasted a long time.

It is now 7 weeks later and I'm just finally able to start running again. I developed tendonitis and it took a long time to heal. This has been a huge lesson for me in patience. Something I don't have.