5k Anyone?

(Ryan Hall - Olympic Athlete: Marathon)

5K Anyone? -
And no, I don't mean $5,000, I'm talkin' bout RUNNING. I developed a love for running in 10th grade when I was doing my best to cope with some emotional issues that struck me kind of abruptly. If there was any one thing that helped me get through that tough time, it was definitely my commitment to excellence in running. And by excellence, I don't mean winning the NYC or Boston marathon, I mean doing the best I can and being the best runner I can possibly be. I set out to complete a 12 week running program which, at the time, was the longest commitment I had ever made to anything non-scholastic in my life.

Let me tell you though, my friends thought I was crazy...and perhaps I was a little bit.

I say this because I recently found one of the daily schedules I created for myself during 10th grade and the first activity on it looked something like this: 5 a.m. - Wake up and run 4 miles.

And the thing is, I would actually do it! I'm a bit jealous of my persistence back then. I went on to complete the 12 week program and scheduled a race for the day after the program ended. It was a small race by my house and there were only maybe 15 runners - two of us being females. That race is an experience that I will always remember because it was the product of weeks of hard work. I didn't just up and decide to run the race the day before; I planned for it and took the necessary steps to run a successful race. I ended up with a time of 26:42 and was beaten by the other female racer by 19 seconds --- and this other female racer just so happened to be my sister.

So as I prepare to embark on my next 5k journey, I'm forced to be a bit more careful due to my ankle. I ran a mile the other day for the first time in a long time and I felt surprisingly good afterward. I did experience some pain the following day but overall, I think I felt just as any normal runner would feel the day after extending themselves (yes, at the current time I sadly consider 1 mile extending myself).

I don't exactly have a 8 or 12 week plan mapped out this time around because I don't want to dissapoint myself if I have to skip some days because of pain. I've decided to go on the way I feel more than anything. If I'm feeling like superwoman and want to run 3 miles, I'll do it. If I need to scale back and just do some powerwalking, then so be it...as long as I'm staying active.

I'll do my best with progress updates...Here I go!

Raw. Love.
-Natalie