About six weeks into my journey I had a conversation with Will, I said "Hey, do you want to run a 5k with me on January 1st?" Will agreed. I had him. Hook.Line.Sinker. It was after he agreed that he realized January 1st was in fact New Year's Day, 2015, and in fact we live in the Chicagoland Area and that could mean a blizzard. He had agreed, he couldn't go back.
Will and I diligently went on Tuesday nights at 6pm and joined our local Run Club for 5k training. The first day we ran for 2 minutes, walked for 2 minutes. The following week we ran for 3 minutes, walked for 1 minute. The next week we ran for 7 minutes, walked for 1 minute. By the fourth week I ran over one mile straight without stopping. Now this progress was not without practice on my own part, but the accomplishment of having realized I had just run that far was a bit overwhelming.
As plans would have it, and they always do, my racing schedule changed. I agreed to do the Jingle Bell 5k with a friend nearly three weeks PRIOR to the race I was training for. Now for a lot of people training for a 5k probably seems insignificant. You go. You run. 3.1 miles later you're done. You leave. I wasn't one of those people. I was overwhelmed nearly with tears by running a mile straight that one night.
I knew I could do the Jingle Bell 5k because the friend I was running with said she averaged about a 17 minute mile, and with our Run Club I was averaging about an 11 minute mile. The one stipulation I had for myself was I would not stop running. If she stopped, I wouldn't leave her behind, but I would run in place waiting on her, run back to her and get her, but I would not stop running. I told myself this was her race, but it was as much for me as it was for her. She wanted tutus, so I sat in my living room floor cutting tulle and making them for us. I realized this was our race, together.
No records were broken that day. In fact, I finished in 326th place with a time of 44:04.9. I didn't stop running once. I ran in place at the top of a hill twice, waiting on my friend. I never stopped. What did happen that surprised me was seeing the finish line. Seeing people cheering. And then as I came closer to the finish line I got choked up. I had done the race. Three and a half months prior I got winded walking up two flights of stairs at the gym for my initial consult meeting. I had just run 3.1 miles in a row without stopping. I cried as I crossed the finish line.
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