My First 4k

I DID it!!! Woo Hoo!! I ran in the Knoxville Dollars for Scholars 2nd annual 4k.

Tori (my 12yo) did GREAT -- she got 21:00 (something). She stopped a few times. This was her first race, so she didn't know about pacing herself. She was at 8:54 1/2 way through. She slowed down a bit at the end.

I didn't stop (that was my goal) and I got 29:29. Hooray! Less than 30 minutes. So I'd have to work a bit to do a 5K under 30 minutes. I was at 16:48 1/2 way through. So I picked up at the end, apparently. But we were running down hill the last 1/2 more so then the first. There were a few hills... but not anything like the ones I run here at home. I was talking with Rachel, a girl from church who does cross country, and she mentioned how long her stride was going down those hills. DOH! I didn't even think about that. So I'll add that to my plan for running hills... STRETCH!! LOL

I can't wait until next year -- I'm going to do it again. August 8, 2009.

That will be incentive to STAY IN SHAPE through the winter and be able to beat my time next year.

Most of the time I ran with my friend Connie. At the end I said, "GO CONNIE!! Beat last years time!" and she took off. What fun!! I think she said she DID improve over last year. That's fun.

I didn't cry, like I thought I would, but I sure felt elated!!

OK -- enough about me.

I'd really encourage you to try something like this -- make it a goal. I started c25k in March. I couldn't HARDLY run the 1 minute time... I REALLY was huffing and puffing at the beginning. PRAISE GOD!! It is so fun to see the improvement. DO IT!! Find a race and DO IT!!

One funny... there was a 4k and a 1/3 marathon today. The man who won the 1/3 marathon yesterday came in before the LAST people finished the 4k. AMAZING!!! I think he may have had a 5:23 minute mile pace. WOW!

It was a small race -- only 250 people... but Knoxville is a small town... only about 7,500 people altogether. The 2nd year the race was run. It'll be fun to run this every year.