My First 5k

Exactly one month ago today I completed my first 5k.  It was Thanksgiving morning and I did it in 00:34:37.  I was feeling absolutely amazing after that race.  I screamed as I crossed the finish line.  I wasn't tired, I wasn't in pain, I think I might have been able to do the 10k that day.  I really liked all the energy and excitement.

Up until the day before the race dad told me that he had given up on running and wasn't going to do the Turkey Trot but the morning of he changed his mind.  He didn't do the run that he registered for but he did another one spur of the moment.  My mom saw it advertised in the newspaper and told him about it.  He went over there to watch and found out it wasn't going to start a couple hours later, at 10:00am.  He had time to go home and decide to do it.  He brought my mom and their dog back in the camper and he did the race.  And this is what he had to say about it:

I did it! 7th out of 8 in my age group and 170th out of 185 overall. Not bad for no training. Now I will start training. Have a happy Thanksgiving. Say hi to everybody for me. Love you,

Dad

The run he did was a trail run so it was a little bit more difficult than the pavement I did and he completed it in slightly more time than me, about one minute more.  I was so happy to hear that he did it.  My race started at 8:00am and since his started at 10:00am we were running at the same time.  I'm on Pacific time and he's on Central time is why.  When I crossed the start line I felt a little emotional, slightly choked up.  It was a great day.  I didn't find out until afterward that dad had decided to run so I think it's pretty cool that on my first running event dad was doing one too.

I got a t shirt for him from the race and the brochure and I'm going to save it for him.  I also bought a Blogger t shirt for him since Blogger is where I'm keeping track of this story for him.  I'm going to save memorabilia and give it to him after our marathon in March.  At that time I'll also share the link to this blog where he'll be able to not only read everything I've been going through but also all the comments that my readers have left for us.  Thank you for reading and thank you for the kind words that you've shared with me on here, DailyMile.com, and my Team In Training page.

Catch Up

It may appear that I haven't been doing anything but it's just that I haven't made the time to sit down and write.  Not to say I've been working out so hard either though.  I started a new job last week and I've been adjusting to waking up at 5:30am and a long commute.

Last Sunday started out good.  I talked to dad and he was really motivated.  He was believing in himself and telling me all the ideas he had and where he wanted to go with his running.  He had talked to an old running buddy from back in the day and that man was doing good and was good enough to encourage my dad.  So as my dad was telling me that he knew that one day he could place in the Senior Olympics I was hoping that this time this feeling of his would last.  I wanted to bring this good energy and goal planning to the present and asked him if he planned on running any of the Turkey Trots.  He hadn't really thought about it and after we talked it all out he said that he would do one (he was looking them up as we spoke).  He even said that he'd order the XS and send it to me as a souvenir from his first race.  That made me really happy and I decided that I would do the local Turkey Trot here too.  I was looking at it earlier but wasn't sure I could really do a 5k (3.11 mi.) yet.  I want to do it though and I want to order the t-shirt in his size and save it for him.
Following this conversation I went to the gym and all was good.  Well, sort of.  I was supposed to do a 20-40 min. "easy run" but I haven't learned pacing yet and sprinted and lost my energy.  I only lasted 00:12:28 but did complete a mile and in less time than the previous one mile.

By Monday morning my dad had already lost any positive thoughts.  Unfortunately, this is the reality of Bipolar Disorder.  He has highs and lows and both sides can be extreme.  I won't go into the details of the conversation but for right now he has given up on running.  Hopefully he somehow changes his mind but I discovered he hasn't even gotten running shoes yet so that's going to be hard.  He bought a few pairs of racing shoes on Ebay though.  He bought them on Sunday.  When they arrive maybe he'll feel like running but no way of telling.  The racing shoes he bought are not shoes that he can train in though because they are for people that do good with no support so they're only good for sixty miles.

I wasn't able to do any marathon training during the week and I missed the track training because I was in training for my new job and very busy but as I get settled in I'm going to be able to make it part of my new routine.  I'm not just saying that, I do have a plan.

On Saturday I met my team at the Berkeley Marina for our first group run.  We met at 8:00am and it was cold.  I warmed up pretty quickly after I started though.  We could have run up to 4 miles but I did 2.  I'm happy with that though.  It is the longest that I've run so far.  I know I could have done more but I had to go to the bathroom so bad.  I don't think I'm going to be able to drink as I run.  I need to buy those gummy electrolyte things.  I'm also going to try and drink a lot of water the night before a run and see if that helps.  I also need to buy a better sports bra.  I wore a hat on my head to cover my ears but it made my head too warm and my ears still hurt.  So adding to the list of "to buy" is a sports head band that covers my ears.

Pacing was much easier for me on Saturday since I was running with a group.  I started off in a pack and stayed at their pace until I had to tie my shoes.

Oops I'm at work now....to be continued

Have a great day!