WE DID IT!!!!! Our first 5K

Tommy is official..he has his number

Me and my official number...WOW

the starting line

just before the gun signaled ...GO!!!

Me crossing the finish line...

Tommy crossing the finish line....(kind of lol)

Its over.....57 minutes!!!

Sorry story is so late...summertime is a busy time but here we go.............

On Wednesday July 4th, we woke up and were so thankful it was a cool morning since we had our K today.  I'll admit was both a little nervous ad excited.  I have never been an exercise person...just a mom and wife who has for these years followed her kids and husband in any sports they played.  I mean as a kid...I threw the football around with my brother and cousins and rode bikes...just organized exercise regime was nothing I had every really done.

Since Tommy and I started WW back in January I knew I wanted to do something new...you know the whole stepping out of the box...my comfort zone...so I figured what better way to mark our  month journey on our new lifestyle of eating better and exercising than to do a 5K.

So Tommy has been a good partner and motivator thru our walks to get me to be ready for our 5K.  OK, I will admit there were times when I though to myself..what the heck am I doing and who am I????? and why does Tommy keep pushing me...doesn't he see I am soooo tired....but he never let me quit and kept saying I could do it...and deep down I knew I wasn't going to die

So we had to be at Memorial Park by 715a to get our numbers ...so when we got there..OMG there was hardly any parking, we had to park 2 blocks away, and there was a LOT of people.  I didn't realize there was going to be so many people...

We headed over to the registration table and signed in ( I had already pre-registered us) We got our numbers and our participants t-shirts.  The we headed over to the fruit area where they had muffins, oranges, bananas, water and Gatorade for all the participants to have before and after the walk. We headed over to the starting line, now remember this is our organized walk of any kind, so this is all new to us.  When you line up at the starting line, they have people standing with sigh with different  times posted on them....then waaaay in the back they have a person holding a sigh that says WALKERS....that would be us and where we to line up.  People were walking in matching shirts, matching outfits, and lots of funny hats, boas, socks and shoes for the 4th of July.  It was kind of cool.  All I kept hoping was that I could finish, I wouldn't be the very last person crossing the finish line and I wouldn't have to go to the bathroom while I was doing this. LOL...things that go thru my head.

So we are off at the sound of the gun...( they really do that).  There are people, lots of people, there are strollers, lots of strollers..... all trying to get to their comfortable pace. Plus did I happen to mention the first part of the race was uphill...what the heck...no one told me...we had been walking for months on level ground.  (Note to self: check map of route next time) There are people lining the streets cheering everyone on....I mean everyone.  There were people there with signs for their families and friends but just people standing in their yards, saying GOOD JOB...YOU CAN DO THIS...KEEP GOING...YOU ARE ALMOST DONE...umm that last cheer was a lie, we hadn't even passed the first corner.  I am happy to say Tommy and I found our pace and we were not at the end...we weren't at the front either but at least my fear of being last was just in my head.

Now when you do any kind of organized walk in a different area how do you know how far you have gone.  Another question that had entered my mind, I mean when we walk around the park, I know ok lap 5...3 miles.  So I had read on their registration page they would have water stations every 1.5 miles, well hello its only a 5K which is only 3.1...so basically halfway thru they would have one and the next one would be back at the finish line.  I think we had a good pace going, Tommy talked to people as we caught up to them or as we passed people, yes we did pass a few. I didn't want to talk I wanted to focus and look for that water station and stay at my pace the best I could.

We finally saw the water station, yeah almost half way done. Oh but wait that's was one of the other thoughts in my head...having to pee on this walk.. So I figured I had better only have a sip of the water....so I did and then handed it to Tommy, he said "you just throw it on the ground"... I said "yeah, but...."as he takes it from my hand and squeezes it to drop  it and gets wet..I said "I didn't drink it all"...lol

So the last bit of the race was all uphill (mental note again: check route next time), Tommy held my hand , I think he was worried I was going to fall way behind and my fear of being last would happen.  I told him I got it...honest.  The last few hundred yards, he went on ahead at his pace and finished plus he was thinking of me...he was standing at the finish line to take a picture of me. How sweet was that?  His love and support meant so much to me. I love that man...oh that man of mine.

So we did it....I survived, there was no question in my mind that Tommy would have survived.  We even got our names and times posted on the website....and did I mention how wonderful my husband was to make he got a picture of me finishing...well he didn't get his tag ripped of his number when he came across cause he was trying to get ready to take my picture ( did I mention I love my man), so they got his after they got mine when I came across....so in the official times...I beat him...lol
in all actuality he had a way better time, probably at least 2-3 minutes better than mine....cause he walked at my pace.

We weren't too tired after, maybe a little sore.   We went to get some breakfast....came home, they play Kinect and I cleaned my kitchen.  We later went out to dinner with our son to Cheesecake Factory.  I know doesn't sound too point friendly but did I happen to mention we did a 5k this morning...lol 
All and all it was a good day, and honestly now we are trying to figure when we will do the next 5K...maybe when Alexandra returns from Korea.  She will be good at it too...she has been walking everywhere in Korea while she has been there.  3.1 miles I am sure is nothing to her.  Jackie said she was up for it next time.  Who else wants in????

wow '50 and Fabulous....this next chapter' ....... has started off pretty good.  Can't wait to see what we try next????