Seeing as I’ve already registered for the Disney Marathon in January I thought it would be smart if I actually ran in a few races before then. And boy am I glad I started with a 5k. I was so nervous/excited. It was a local 5k put on by the Wentzville firefighters. It was a 9am start time, so we got there at 8 to check in and warm up. Right as I was walking to the firehouse it started to rain. and kept raining. there was talk of postponing it, but they decided not to. I was kind of nervous as we lined up. I sheepishly made my way to the back of the pack, I figured I could stay in front of the strollers at least. My goal was to finish under 40 minutes, not “fast” by normal standards I suppose, but my previous PR on a 5k in training was 40 minutes and I wanted to beat that. I kept moving, trying to stay warm and stretched (and also a nervous habit of mine). The rain kept on coming and the streets were filled with puddles. After a few minutes of chatting with the runners around me the gun went off and we started running. I got a little nervous and took off too fast which led to a cramp, but with some controlled breathing and consistent pace it went away pretty quick. I found someone who I wanted to keep up with and we kept passing each other back and forth. I left my phone with Chris because of the rain, I didn’t want it to get wet. I also forget to push start on my nike+ armband so I had no idea how far/fast I was running. I ran through several ankle deep puddles and more downpours. It seemed like it started to let up on the rain right as I turned the corner to the last straightaway on the race. As I got closer to the finish I scanned the crowd for Chris and Payton, I knew they would give me the boost I needed to finish strong and fast. I saw them standing on the side and saw Payton’s face light up as they were saying go momma go, I took off towards the line watching the clock tick up towards 40 minutes. I thought for sure I was going to miss my goal because of all the rain and puddles, but I pounded it out and finished in 38:31. It felt so good to actually get a real race under my belt. Next up, a half marathon…. and that might be as soon as October 2…. aye!
imperfectly courtney 