…not me.

But that’s OK. The only goal I wanted to meet as I ran my first 5k this morning was to finish. I didn’t even care if I finished last. I wanted to run the entire time and I did.

My official time was 34:44 and I came in 57th out of 87 women in my age group.

Huzzah!

I think it helped that I prepared for it as much as I possibly could. Like a bride on her wedding day, I had something borrowed (my son’s running pants), something blue (my hat), something old (well, me) and something new (the nifty knee support thing-y that I ran out and got yesterday, just in case).

I’d like to thank all of you who have offered your support and advice along the way. I’m not sure I would’ve had the confidence to go through the race without it.

I also learned a few things. While the kind people of the town hosting the race lined the streets to cheer the runners on, it did not make me any faster or more powerful. In fact, I was surprised by how distracting it was. I just wanted to finish and it took every ounce of my concentration to do that. As such, I will do my best to not yell and scream at my sons’ cross-country meets ever again.

Once across the finish line, everything was fantastic. People handed me dixie cups full of water, bananas, cups of soup and hot dogs wrapped in foil – all because I was sweaty and had a number pinned to my shirt.

This race thing rocks.

The only thing missing was chocolate, but the happy endorphins coursing through my veins kept a smile on my face despite the glaring omission.

  As we sat on the curb nibbling on Cliff bars and sipping our water, my coach asked me what we should do next. Before I could reply, “Shower!” he started detailing a training plan that will ready us for our next race.

Well, what have I got to loose? My time can only improve, right?