In which I ran. And will totally do it again. Only faster.

OH HAI I HAVEN’T BLOGGED IN FOREVER INSERT EXCUSES AND STUFF ABOUT HOW I PROMISE TO DO IT MORE HERE.

Moving on.

Those of you that follow me on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr or Pinterest or IRL know that I’ve been making a really solid effort to get my body back into shape. It was rough going at first but I’m firmly back into the swing of things and I feel [Oprah]FAAAAABULOUUUUSSSS[/Oprah]! The funny part about this whole journey is that it didn’t start off at a way to get my body in shape physically but mentally.

I did a month of Insanity to start then felt my motivation starting to wane but was good about recognizing that so started to look for a way to give myself a kick in the ass. So on a whim one afternoon I signed up for our local 4th of July 5K fun run.

And then spent all night panicking.

I left myself just short of a month to train so started running about three days a week with some Insanity thrown in once or twice. About a week out I started to realize just how badly I’d underestimated how long I’d given myself to train and had spent about 24 hours once again FREAKING MYSELF OUT. Then with two days to go I just decided that I’m doing this. I’m just doing it. One step in front of the other till the end. That’s all it is.

I asked Ben to do it with me knowing that he’d have to run way slower than his normal pace but also knowing that it would be really encouraging to have somebody there to cheer me on and push me the whole way.

I was pretty nervous all morning right up till the second the race started. I was not quite ready for the stampede at the beginning and Ben had warned me at least twice to NOT let the pack set my pace, to set MY pace. I totally let the pack set my pace and had to start walking for the fist time right around the 3/4 mile mark.

But I kept going and Ben was the PERFECT amount of YOU GOT THIS, YOU ARE A BADASS and GET YOUR LEGS MOVING NOW RUUUUUUN! I really think I’d have been miserable without him there with me. It meant a lot that he did it just for me. Not to compete or run his fastest, but just to be there to support me.

When I got to the last 1/4 mile I wanted to walk SO BAD OMG MY LEGS HATE ME AND THEY HATE YOU AND THEY HATE THIS ROAD AND THE ARE DONE but I kept going and crossed the like right at 41 minutes. It the world of 5Ks that’s not a great number AT ALL. But to me, that number is FUCKING AWESOME. Because that number was me crossing the finish line which: FUCKING AWESOME.

I’ll take it and I’ll own it and I’ll love it. And next time, I’ll do better. Nothing better than competing with yourself to get motivated! I keep my number on my Insanity schedule now to keep me going. 🙂

Post run smile because STRAWBERRIES.