Second 5K - "What was that pop sound?"

A couple of weeks ago I ran in my second 5K race. It was a beautiful day and my sister and nephew were running also. We had ran a similar course just a few days before that and were pumped to be racing together again. I even bought me a cute pink Nike hat for my run. We gathered at the starting line and as soon as the starter blew the horn we took off. Right before I got to the first mile mark I heard something pop in my hip/leg...ouch! Talking myself up: "Just walk it out for a second don't be a whimp." I waved my sister on ahead and stated to run again, then two very loud pops... OUCH!

Let's just say I never made it to the finish line on my own. After managing to walk/limp/whimper along to the 2.5 mile mark, I had to stop. A kindly race sponsor radioed for someone to come pick me up. I crossed the finish line in a pick up truck; just as my sister was about to come look for me.
At least my nephew won a trophy for coming in second place in his age group!
Oh yeah, that popping was the sound of my leg/thigh muscle tearing.

Note to self: Stop running after you hear it pop the first time! I will race another day...I hope those aren't words I will regret.

Running a 5K...and Other Miracles

Just a little over a year ago I couldn't hardly walk to the mailbox without huffing and puffing. Since that time I have made some major changes in the way I eat and (gasp ... the "e" word) exercise. I would have rather taken a beating than exercise. But one Sunday afternoon my sister invited me to play racquetball at the YMCA, it turned out to be a lot more fun than I had imagined. I joined that afternoon and it has changed the ugly "e" word to something I look forward to everyday. After many months of working at it I lost 50 pounds and started my own training plan to begin running.

This cold morning at 8:30 a.m. my sister and I set out to run our first 5K! It was so much fun, and even though we didn't break any records it was a record for me just to be able to run at all, much less run over 3 miles.

I have to give her a hard time for not putting her bib on the front of her shirt. You know how it can be with sisters: "I'm doing it right, and your not!"

Here we are at the starting line, or at least as close as we could get with 600+ runners. My daughter was so sweet to come and cheer us one and take pictures.

Here we are crossing the finish line in less than 36 minutes! Whoo-hoo!