My First 5K

In addition to it being my mother's birthday today (Happy Birthday, Mommie! <3), today is also the day that I ran my first 5K.

I am so totally not a runner. I hate running. The only reason I do it is for training purposes. Once I am done passing academy and my physical fitness tests, I am SO hanging up my running shoes. I do not get "runner's high," I don't get a second wind. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, and my lumbar vertebrae hurt and I get bored halfway through runs. 

About a week ago I was covering a detail for the police auxiliary and one of the female regular officers came up to me and we were making small talk about exercise. She had asked if I was pursuing a career in law enforcement and I asked her about fitness tips and how to get through academy. She gave me a really great pep talk. That night I got home and looked up local races and runs and found the Long Beach Waterfront Warriors 5K. I signed up that night--leaving myself only 8 days to prepare. 

Lately my running times have been getting much better--I ran my first 10 minute mile ever a couple weeks ago and it felt amazing. I never thought I would ever be able to do that. I have noticed such a great change in my body over the past month. It's nice to finally see some progress after all that hard work. I'll post another before/after shot later in the week. 

Anyway, I finished the race in 36:57. It's right around where I thought I'd be. Not bad considering I only had 8 days to prepare and I was on my feet most of the night before because of work. 

The next five days are going to go by soooo slowly. Friday night I'm going to my first concert at Jones Beach with Nicole, and then the following morning I'm mkaing the 8 hour drive up to Potsdam and I'm staying up there for a whole week to say goodbye to Aletheia and Amy before they leave for graduate school. One is going to Hawaii and the other is planning to go to England. So this may well be the last time I see either one of them for the next 2 years at least, which is driving me crazy when it comes to Amy because she's like my big sister. She's always given me great advice and been there for me and it's bad enough i've only been able to see her once a year since graduating college. I can't imagine not being to see her at all. Guess I'll just have to start stashing cash away for a plane ticket. :)