Week 9- November 5, 2011

Saturday was a big day for our group. Saturday was our practice run for our goal race, the Jingle Bell Run on November 20. The race is a 5K and for many of us the first race we’ve entered. Personally, I have entered a couple charity 5K races before, however, I have always walked/run and my personal goal during this program was to learn how to be able to run the whole race.

This week we were on our own. No coaches running with us. No other team members running with us. Just myself and the road. I had to apply everything I’ve learned over the last 8 weeks starting with correct attire, correct running form, correct breathing and how to use my internal dialogue to push myself through it whenever I wanted to quit.

The course was laid out within Onondaga Parkway. It wasn’t the exact course we would be running in two weeks, but the distance was the same. All our amazing coaches were at strategic points along the way to give us encouragement as each one of us strived to finish what we had started. The atmosphere at the finish line was amazing. The faster runners having completed the test run didn’t have to wait for the slower runners, but they did. The feeling I felt crossing that finish line and having so many people, some of whom I’ve never met, clapping and cheering for those of us toward the back of the pack was unbelievable. I was almost in tears. I had done it. Here I was, having come so far from only being able to run 2-3 minutes at a time 9 weeks ago completing my first “unofficial” 5K and running the distance. It was so overwhelming. I can’t imagine how I will feel completing the actual race in two weeks. I am so looking forward to it.