me...?? Running?

April 25, 2010 marked uncharted territory for me. I began the establishment of "personal best" times in my world of running!!!

Back as a young'un in elementary school, I ran cross country races and liked it. In junior high, i was a sprinter, and liked it. In high school and college, I was a volleyball player...who HATED running! Go figure!!

Growing up, my running repertoire also included being roused waaaay earlier than I would have liked, on Father's Day morning, for the annual Manitoba Marathon....no no, i was not running anything close to a full or half marathon...the 2.6mile SuperRun was where it was at for us...a family ritual of sort, and a distance plenty far enough for me!! The Manitoba Marathon is a major fundraising venture for the Association for Community Living-Manitoba...for whom my dad just happened to be Executive Director...so i didn't really have a choice regarding my Super Run participation....it's just what we did. And since it happens on Father's Day, what dad wants, dad gets! And dad wanted us to run!

Anyway....i digress....

Running has taken a back seat in my exercise regime in the last number of years. Actually any kind of cardio took a back seat...lol...i much prefer weight training to cardio. But something happened last spring...i don't even think i can decipher what changed...but suddenly, running seemed appealing. And so i started running. Just a bit. On the treadmill, at the gym. Then on trails, with a friend from work. At first it really sucked. But then i kinda started to like it! What?! running is becoming fun?!?!?! Who saw that coming??!! Not me! So I kept running! Nothing fast, nothing far, but running none the less!

In January, my dear friend Darla flaunted a challenge before a few of us...she wanted to start training for a 10k race at the end of April. And before I could consider that it was a foolish agreement, i said "sure!" And better yet, Pammer agreed too! And so did Darla's friend Stacey! So, we started a training program, signed up for the race...and with each week that went by, I was loving it!!

And then before i knew it, April 25 was here! Race day! I was nervous, i was excited, i was antsy standing at the starting line and just wanted to get going!!!!! The damper on our day was the fact that Darla was diagnosed with double stress fractures in her legs 3 DAYS before the race, and was unable to run. Boo. The up side was that she became cheerleader and photographer extraordinaire.
So what follows are pics of race day...courtesy of Darla....capturing me in my first ever 10k.

start line!!!! ready to go!!!!
Darla was a superstar and followed us in her car for the first stretch!! She shot photos out her car window WHILE driving and cheering loudly! Yep, that's why i'm grinning in this pic!! (i'm right in the middle...and can you see all the people around me thinking"who the heck is yelling from their car??!!")

me and Pammer!

My cheering squad at the finish line! Kimmer and Darla! Love these girls!!!! (and check out my medal...wooooo!!!!)

At the finish line sporting our medals....me, Stacey and Pammer

The 4 amigos...we will find another 10k to run when we're all healthy and whole again!

And so...my goal was to finish the race in under 1hour...figured the race day adrenaline would help me have a good shot at that goal....

....58m34s is now my newly established personal best for a 10k...yay me, I met my goal! And I've got a chance to try and shave a few seconds off in a couple of weeks...my next 10k is May 30....!!!