Last night, I did it. I went from the Couch to a 5k. An officially
timed and regulated real live honest to goodness 5k race with 3,000
other people. Me! Running! With them! Surreal.

I was waiting to get my time before I wrote this post, but the web
site says the time will be up some time before 6 pm and it's not
there yet. I felt like I did the run at my average treadmill pace,
so I would estimate my time to be about 40 minutes as that is where
I usually am, 40-42 minutes or so. I'll update when I get the info.

The race was fun. There was a costume contest (which I did not
participate in, thank you very much) and there were freebies before
and after (Italian sodas, Starbucks, Frisbees, light up things to
wave around because it was a night race).

There were an estimated 3,000 runners but, man, did it look like
more. I liked it. It's really easy to get lost in a crowd of 3,000
people, especially when you're one of the 2,000 wearing your normal
running clothes and there are 1,000 others mixed in dressed as the
Village People, the Portland Trailblazers or the Brady Bunch. Oh,
and my favorite, the track team from the movie Juno. Instant
classic.

The race started with a big uphill push and I was thinking, damn,
I'm glad to get that out of the way. But there were other hills
that brought me from a jog to a trog. I did walk a block in two
different places where the road narrowed from four lanes to two and
the crowd really pressed in. The walking breaks were NICE but I
didn't prolong them and got right back into my jog when everyone
else did. Yes, I am EXTREMELY SUSCEPTIBLE to peer pressure.

All in all, I think I did great. The fact that I ran it makes me
proud of myself and where I am right now. I still haven't had that
A-HA moment, but it was definitely a MMM-HMMM moment. Yes, here I
am, and this is good. I am living a life in a body that is now
allowing me to go out and DO THINGS, things that I didn't feel I
could do before. Friday, golfing with a group of over 100 people –
I can't golf, but it was fun in a social way, but it's definitely
something that 30 pounds ago I would have been way too self
conscious to do. And now a 5k, not only trying it but actually
DOING it. My journey is not over, though, and maybe it'll take 25
more pounds for the A-HA to arrive. But MMM-HMMM is good for now : )

I do have to say, that whole "runners high" endorphin thing? Still
a mystery to me. All I feel is WORN OUT after I run. I feel glad
that I did it and proud of myself for pushing through the suckiness
of it, but that's about it.

So today is a rest and reward day, going to see Sex and the City
with a girlfriend, having popcorn with the dreaded movie butter on
it and taking it easy.

Thanks Lori and Kathy for helping me get my ass off the couch : )

OH, PS: Remember that whole big plan I had of jogging the route
ahead of time to eliminate any surprises? Well, I did it backwards,
so all of the easy downhill parts were actually uphill! But, oh,
well, I lived to tell the tale.