My first 2 miler

I ran my first race this past weekend, the Natal Day road race on August 7th. It was a 2 mile or 6 mile race and I wisely chose the 2 mile. I've been running for about a month now and I love it. Mind you, I used to run back in high school and first year university but I never really got into it - to be honest I somewhat hated it. I really think this was because I was running with other girls on my basketball team who could run really well. Now anyone that knows me knows I'm a competitive person so when I run with someone else I want to beat them! This made me push myself TOO hard which in turn made running not enjoyable. For the past month I've been running alone either in the morning or right after work. I guess I'm teaching myself to challenge myself instead of others all the time.

So, back to the race. A friend of mine did the race with me and both of us were a tad nervous the night before and the morning of. I swear seeing 1200 people piled into the street behind the start/finish line anxious to get the race started is rather intimidating. In fact, there was so many people there we had to walk for a little ways before starting any sort of running stride. I didn't realize how nervous I would be, but I can honestly say I felt vomitous with anxiety. Once the gunshot went (which I have to say made me feel like a professional) the anxiety went. I ended up running the 2 miles without stopping for a walk break (this is a step up for me as I've been running about 3K for a couple of weeks now and this was the first time I did 3K at a continuous pace).

It was very motivational and inspiring to see 1200 people willingly running. It was even more amazing to see a man with one leg on crutches cross the finish line or a 73 year old man cross the finish line after running the 6 miler.

My time was 20.53 and I placed 292 out of 548. Even though I didn't run this race to see where I placed I had hoped I wouldn't come last (I can't get rid of all my competition). Next I'll challenge myself to a 5K and of course to better my own time.