Homecoming

After the run, when I walked in, I found a cleaned house and this...

A banner on the mantel, "Great Job Mommy!"
A drawing of the 5K course.

Gifts from my kids.

A fully decorated bedroom...

Ceiling fan streamers, balloons on the floor and sparkly garland on lamps and nightstands.

They had even baked cookies and put them in a cute jar.

The "Be a Wiener" dog was from Jason.

Do I have a great family, or what?!

What a sweet surprise.
Thanks kiddos!
I love you too !!!

The Run

After a short night, with not a lot of sleep, Amber and I headed downtown. We strategically parked our car close to the end of the race. That meant briskly walking to our starting position, maybe a mile away.

We were there with plenty of time to spare, even stopping along the way to say HI to friends and take a picture together.

The anticipation was killing me. I hadn't eaten a lot for breakfast and I think the adrenaline was making my legs shaky...think Jell-o. But I was also excited and enjoyed the "oneness" I felt with all these women of different ages, backgrounds, and stages in life. It was a downtown
par-tay!

Music blared, women danced and local celebrities announced.

It was fun to people-watch and see how different groups dressed for the occasion. There were angels with halos, divas with feather boas, and grammas with funky running socks. They were all so cute in their own way. There were also those "serious" runners with their little running shorts, sunglasses and i-pods.

After the wheelchair and elite runners were on their way, it was FINALLY our turn, the RED wave. We counted down and then we were off!

We started by the capitol building and raced toward the train depot. I thought to myself, "I'll try to run until I get to the hill (by the train depot) at least." Well, I didn't quite get to the hill, but I did make it to the bridge. I was semi-surprised how different it was than running on a treadmill. I could do at least a mile of running and sometimes two on the treadmill, before walking... not today.
Even when I wasn't running, I tried to keep a quick walking pace. Amber said, "Your walk is my jog!" All along the way, there were people shouting encouraging words and clapping for our running efforts.

At the top of the hill, behind the train depot, there was a water station. I was handed a cup of water, but couldn't drink it. Even walking I spilled it all over the front of me. "Oh well, I'm almost there," ...or so I thought.

Running through the neighborhood on the bench, a mom and her young kids ,were out on their driveway with make-shift instruments, shouting encouragement and clanking and jingling. It was sweet.

Finally, we saw the end in sight..."just around the corner and down the hill". Uh huh, more like, "WAY around the corner, a long ways down the hill, then another long stretch, around another corner and FINALLY a straight shot toward the finish line".

Just before the finish line, guys in tuxedos, held out their hands and high-fived us as we ran passed. The announcer shouted, "Your almost there ladies... You're almost to the finish line... Keep running!" He also congratulated people as they crossed and highlighted young girls and older women. "Good job Sarah... Folks, she's just 6 years old." Yep, I was running at the pace of some 6 year olds. :o)

When the finish-line was close, I exerted my last bit of energy and sprinted across the line.

The time on the arch said, "47:-something". I assumed that was my time. Amber said she thought it was less, because she had been keeping track on her watch. Even so, I was in my normal range.

After turning in our timing chips, making a bathroom pit-stop and collecting our brown bag breakfast, we found the booth and checked our official time...... 42:05! Whew, a good effort.

The party continued, as Amber and I walked back to our car.

It was a nice thing to accomplish. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but it was as hard as I thought too. I liked having this under my belt and I found myself looking forward to and anticipating NEXT year... "I'm sure I could run more, get a better time and increase my efforts".

I don't have any goals of marathons in the near future. I believe I would like to master the 5K, before moving on to bigger races. For now, this is my pace...but still a challenge.

Celebration

At the end of June, my friend Jaime asked me if I would start running with her. She was training for a 5K in September and wanted a running buddy. I had put off exercising and eating better for a LONG time! I knew I wanted to make some changes in my life, but didn't think it would involve running. I HATED running... or I have always hated it in the past. A little scared and a lot reluctant, I agreed. We started "training" (1 minute of running and 3 minutes of walking, alternated until we hit 3 miles) in her neighborhood, 3 days a week. I was SHOCKED at how little I could do. That first minute of running was terrible and torturous. I felt jiggling in parts of my body I didn't know existed. It was embarrassing and hard.

I persisted and kept training with her, until her schedule changed and she wouldn't be able to run with me in the mornings any more. I decided I would start using the little workout room in our neighborhood club house. We were paying for it... I might as well use it. So I started running on the treadmill 3-5 times a week.

In the meantime, I also joined a blog weight loss competition, "Battle of the Bulge 2009", created by Melanie (cousin-in-law) and friend. The competition was to last 2 months. All who joined posted a "Before" picture, blogged about their goals and also posted a picture of their feet on the scale with their beginning weight. --The first post was the hardest. --Each Saturday, we would weigh-in by posting a scale picture and blog about how our week went and how much weight we lost or gained. This became a tool that kept me in check and created accountability.

As September approached, I heard rumblings of the St. Luke's Women's Celebration Run. I had always wanted to participate, but never had. Insecurities and doubt were probably the bottom-line. When I had thought about participating in the past, it wasn't to run, but to maybe walk it. This year, I had a new thought, "Maybe I COULD try and run it." I had been running more now, than ever before in my life. My treadmill work-outs switched from timed runs to how much and how fast could I run 3.2 miles (5K). I was supposed to be able to complete the course in 35 minutes. I made that my focus. Initially I completed it in about 50 minutes. Yikes, I had a ways to go.

Amber and I finally committed and signed up for the run. The week of, I was running 3.2 miles in about 44-45 minutes. Not the required 35 minutes, but getting closer. Amber assured me they wouldn't kick me out or make a public example of me, so we proceeded.

Friday, Amber and I joined the celebration downtown, to pick-up our numbers and t-shirts.

Sweet Daisylyn

We cruised the isles of booths and snacked on samples. The Boise Police Department's bagpipe group was playing as we walked through.

Then Amber saw Jared... you know, the Subway guy.

We had missed his speech earlier that evening, but caught up with him at the Subway booth. Amber said, "You should ask if you can take a picture with him." No thanks, I was too nervous. I saw him signing autographs, so decided I COULD do that. I got his autograph, but Amber kept persisting that I get a picture taken with him. I didn't want to ask. Finally she said, "Ok, just stand there, with him in the background... pretend you're in the picture with him." So I did. I felt so goofy I finally decided just to ask him. When I approached, I spoke gibberish and was surprised that he understood that I wanted a picture with him. (I could barely understand myself.) He seemed like a nice, normal guy. ---I don't know why I was so nervous. It's not like he's my idle. I think it was that I didn't want to bug him or make him take a picture with a total stranger. But I guess he's probably quite used to that by now.

Race number? Check.
T-shirt? Check.
Timing chip? Check.

I was ready to run my first 5K!!!