November 21, 2011

The big day had arrived. The Jingle Bell Run was held yesterday at Onondaga Lake Park. This was it. This was the race we had been training for the last 10 weeks. This is where our journey has taken us.

Driving to the park there were some sprinkles on the windshield, but I knew that even if it started to rain, our group was prepared. The No Boundaries group met at the Fleet Feet tent for our large group picture. After that, I met up with 5 other members of my group. It was just like week one all over again. The nervous butterflies were starting to appear. We all were remaining positive however. Then  Coach Jessica appeared and pumped us up even more. We’ve trained for this for 10 weeks. We are ready and we can do this! Woo Hoo!

The sun actually came out and off to the starting line we went. There were so many people that initially it was hard to actually run in the beginning. Eventually the runners started to put space between them and you could get into a rhythm. I do have to say, although my goal was to run the whole race, I did walk during the race.. at the water stop. It was hard to run and drink and the same time, so I did give myself a break, but other than that I did it. And so did all of the other runners in my group. Coming down to the finish line, Coach Jessica was there to greet me and push me to finish strong. It was exactly what I needed. As I crossed the finish line, there was a member of my group and other No Boundaries participants who had finished cheering me and every other runner who came across the finish line. The feeling was just overwhelming. My husband and kids were there for support too. Although I was the one putting in the work for the last 10 weeks, they also went through the training because when Mom said she had a homework run to do, they had to learn that Mom was committed to putting herself first for a while.

I am so glad that I participated in this program. I hope those of you who have read my blog each week you have enjoyed reading about the journey of myself and my group.  If you are one of those people like I was who read the Fleet Feet newsletter each week and always wanted to try running, but was afraid to start, I tell you, sign up and do it. You will not regret it one bit. The staff and coaches who run this program are amazing. If you have always wanted to become a runner, this is definitely the program I would recommend. At the end of the program, you will be definitely be able to call yourself a runner. Now on to the Advanced 5k program?