Off-Topic Thursday: Neverland 5K 2013 – I Did It!

Well, it’s official. This past Saturday, January 19th, I ran in my very first official 5K!

 

Six months ago, I wouldn’t have thought that was even possible for me to do.

 

Four months ago, I decided to do it, and figured if I could complete it at a 16-minute per mile pace, I’d be doing great. Of course, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to even do that since I’d never run a mile faster than about 22 minutes in my life, and I was having to train to work my way up to being able to start a Couch-to-5K program. I had to train just to be able to do Week 1, Day 1.

 

Three months ago, I decided to really push myself and stretch for a goal pace of 14 minutes per mile. I didn’t know if I could do it, but I wanted some cushion between me and that 16-minute mile.

 

Two months ago, I’d completed a 5K distance for the first time, and had done it in just over 39 minutes, 30 seconds, giving me a pace of around 13 minutes per mile. I’d exceeded my goal! This was far beyond anything I’d ever imagined I could do! Time for a new goal: 11 minutes per mile.

 

Two weeks ago, I ran four miles (looking a head to longer races) in 47 minutes, an average pace of 11:44!

 

Saturday, I ran in the Neverland Family Fun Run 5K. I used an app on my phone to track the total time on the course, as well as the time actually running, and it came out to 3.16 miles at 12:40/mile…and I’d gotten sick the day before, running a 101° fever less than 12 hours before the race! (NOTE: I don’t recommend running while sick, especially if you have a fever.)

 

It turns out I’m capable of much more than I thought I was. It’s also true that I couldn’t have done it by myself. I needed outside motivation and accountability, and someone to train with and run with (in this case, my brother-in-law, Stuart).

 

So what’s next for me and running? Well, I’ve got lined up for this year…

• The Coaster Run 10K in and around Knott’s Berry Farm (in Buena Park, CA) on March 10th. The proceeds from this race benefits the Speech and Language Development Center.
• The Castaway Cay 5K during my Disney cruise in late June.
• The Dumbo Double Dare! This is a new event at Disneyland over Labor Day weekend. They’ve been doing 5K’s and half-marathons for a while, but this year they’re adding a 10K and this new event. The Dumbo Double Dare is the 10K on Saturday and the Half-Marathon on Sunday–19.3 miles total over two days. I’ll be running this almost exactly one year to the day from when I started training for a 5K that I wasn’t sure was even possible for me.

 

Question: What about you? How have you challenged yourself to do something you thought impossible–or how will you? Talk about it in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.