LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE 5K Report

Well, I can finally say I ran my 1st 5K! I have been working at this since June, so crossing that finish line was an awesome feeling! We set out for Austin on Friday, after a lot of traffic, and several u-turns we made it to our hotel checked in and headed to the Livestrong Village for packet pickup. The village thing was pretty cool. Trek was there and got to check out their new bikes, supah suaweet. They had a lot of cycling vendors there since the ride was the big deal this weekend. I enjoyed walking around and taking in all the goodies that come with an event. We, (meaning Shane, my husband, Rita & Vince our dearest friends, and Godparents to our Lil' Buster) than headed to a nice dinner at Carrabba's Grill. Looking back, I should have had a glass or bottle of wine because I was so excited that I barely slept Friday night. I laid in bed watching the clock, waiting for the alarm to go off at 6AM. At that time, I got up and started getting dressed. Rita, came down to our room to have some oatmeal and juice. We stuck tattoos on ourselves from the goodie bag like a couple of 10 year olds. A, few minutes later the guys were chauffeuring us to the event. We went to the porta potty, lined up, and did some stretches. Than, as we waited, I ran back to the porta potty again, lined up again, now I was ready. LOL! Lance Armstrong pulled up in a huge bus. Andy Roddick got out said some blah, blah words. Why is it when he speaks I understand nothing?!?!
Lance took to the stage and thanked everyone for coming out, and reminded Texans to vote for Prop 15 this November. The horn sounded..we were off and running!!
I took off way to fast, Rita made me talk to her to make sure I could keep at a pace that would last me 3.1 miles. I have to admit, for some reason I took it personally when people were flying past me, and prom king Dad's were almost running me over with the jogging strollers. I had to remind myself, it was nothing personal they also have worked to hard to achieve their level of running. Got over myself, and kept at it. It was such a scenic course, the sun coming up over Town Lake, downtown Austin, and the gorgeous rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country. Rita, was the best friend anyone could ask for. Even though this was her first running race, she made a point of making this all about me, cheering me on, calling me a runner, motivating me up those beautiful fucking gorgeous rolling hills!! I think, I might have threatened to kill her somewhere along mile 2, but I love you more Mon Chi Chi! I made sure I thanked all the volunteers, took all high fives, and cheers I could get. I could see we were making our way back to the Capital, and at that point the cheesy smile came all over me. We crossed the finish line. I had done it! I was overwhelmed with emotion. I hugged Rita and shed a few tears of the joy and sense of accomplishment I had attained. Then, Shane came running to me and squeezed me hard, and told me over and over how proud he was of me. I have not seen Shane so proud of me since I gave birth to our son. Shane, hates taking pictures so to see him in full paparazzi mode, not to mention rund down, confirmed his support. I looked at the video in the car on the way up to New Braunfels, which is where I realized that at the finish line Rita stood back, clapped, and let me cross that finish line first..priceless!

I set two goals for myself;

1. Run the entire course

2. Try to finish under 40 minutes

Goal 1

accomplished

Goal 2

Bib 3288 / 39:06 (12:35)

Great tee I saw on a runner....

Feeling like somebody is pushing you from behind, and than realizing it’s you. That is running