I Did Life

Yesterday was a day that I won't soon forget. I participated in my first 5k race. It wasn't a timed event but the point was to be active. I was last but I felt really proud of myself for finishing it. I also wasn't that far behind which did wonders for my self esteem. I was so close to not going. I was in my car and I sat there for a minute debating whether or not to go. But I am so glad that I did. I got to meet Ben from Ben Does Life, his dad (Pa) and other folks who follow Ben's tumblr. Sunday was a day of firsts for me:

• Participating in a group activity that revolved exercise
• My first 5k event
• Going to a meet up by myself and not knowing anyone

On your mark...

There were about 60 people in attendance and everyone was so nice. As soon as I met the group, Ben introduced himself to me and asked me a bit about myself. We got to mingle with the other participants and at around 10:45 we started to run or walk in my case. I had set a goal for myself to finish in under an hour. My Nike+ & Runkeeper app have told me in past walks that my pace was on average 22 minutes per mile. I decided that I was really going to push myself and try to shave off time for this walk. I ended up completing the 5k (3.1 miles) in 57:50:20 minutes which is about 18 minutes per mile. Holy crap! I was so happy! Towards the latter part of the walk, I didn't think I would make it under an hour. There was a part that was uphill and I was already getting really tired. I didn't stop at all and just kept on walking even if my pace started to slow down. I walked by this lake that had a really nice waterfall. I didn't want to stop. In fact, I wanted to jump in since I was so hot. After meeting up with the group, we took some pictures with Ben and I bought a race shirt. I got in a size smaller than I am right now to motivate me to keep on moving. About half of us stayed and we had lunch together. I was glad that I stayed because I got to meet some folks who are very active and it was neat to hear about their races.

With Ben after I completed the 5K.

I felt so accomplished yesterday and really proud of myself because I was out of my comfort zone & I succeeded. Now I am looking to see if there are any more 5k's coming up to participate in. I may not be the fastest walker but even if in my next event I improve by a minute I will be really happy. With the 5k done, I completed my fitness goal of this week to work out 4 times this past week. My goal for this week will be to work out 4 times again. I feel so motivated!

I want to thank all of you who encouraged me to go to this event. I'm beyond ecstatic that I did and if Ben comes around next year with the Do Life Movement, I will definitely be there! And hopefully there will be less of me a year from now.

Oh yeah, and I also lost 4.1 pounds this week.

Group shot via Do Life Movement