I RAN A 5k!!!

So, remember back in October when I wrote this post about running a 5k? Roy and I ran The Color Run this past weekend. We trained since October, using a free phone app called C2K Free which is a couch to 5k program broken down into nine weeks of walk/runs. In December, we got off track because of our cruise and subsequent three-week-long winter plague. But we got back on the proverbial horse; first by going backwards and repeating weeks we'd already finished, and then continuing onto weeks we hadn't reached yet.

Our shiny new shirts, one day before the 5k!

Back in October, it was hard for me to run 30 seconds straight. On my birthday, October 18th, we got up at 8 a.m to run Week 3 Day 3: Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog for 90 seconds; Walk for 90 seconds; Jog for 3 mins; Walk for 3 mins. I was nervous that morning. I'd never run quite that long before. But I did it. We did it. That night, when we went out with our friends to celebrate my birthday, I gushed that I ran three whole minutes straight. One of my friends looked at me oddly and said "that's not really a lot." And she was right. It's not like I ran a marathon. I ran three minutes. But it was a lot for me. It was a big deal. First of all, I got up to go running on my birthday. That's a big deal. Then, I ran non-stop for three minutes after struggling with running for thirty seconds two weeks before. Insert major high-five here.

After that, the weeks got progressively harder and easier at the same time. By week 4, I had to run for five minutes straight. Week 5 had a solid eight minute run. And by week 6, I broke the 20 minute mark. I couldn't believe it. I was doing it. Yes, sometimes I felt vomitous when we'd finish our run. But the nausea was quickly replaced with exhilaration. And the feeling of accomplishment. Awesomeness. Achievement... I was proud of myself.

Did I mention I was a smoker when I started? I didn't smoke a lot but I was a smoker. The little box you have to check off when you're at the doctor's office would have a sad little 'x' in it for 'smoker.' I used to smoke cloves. Sometimes, I'd only smoke two a day. Sometimes, I could go through half a pack (that's six, as the packs of cloves I bought only had twelve cigarillos.) Sometimes I wouldn't smoke at all for days or even weeks at a time and then start back up again. When I started running, I wanted to stop smoking. Maybe it's because smoking made it so hard to breathe, and I hated the feeling of suffocation while running. It's like drowning in air. I'm happy to say my last clove was around November 13th, and I only had one, and I haven't touched a clove since.

Other runners loved my shirt and cheered me on!

And, on February 15th, Roy and I got on our Color Run shirts, put on our temporary tattoos we were given in our Color Run packet, pinned our numbers on our fronts, and ran the 5k. All the way, non-stop, with paint in our hair and in our mouths. And we did it. I wrote on the back of my shirt that it was my first 5k, and I needed people to cheer for me to help me on. And they did. Other runners provided encouragement and cheers along the just-over-three-mile run. Roy's mom stood at the finish line, camera in hand to snap the finishing photos. I was over the moon.

For anyone who has never run before, and is not "a runner," I strongly recommend you try a couch to 5k program. There are lots of apps on your phones, or if you don't want to carry your phone with you, lots of programs you can read about to help you get up and start running. I didn't haul ass down the track at 40 miles per hour. I jogged at a snail's pace (almost going backwards) but I was moving. And no one can take that away from me. I did it. And you can too.

Til next time!

-Kale Queen

Crossing the finish line!!!

We were covered in paint

That's a seriously happy Gabby :)