So, today was kind of like the coronation of my journey on the Couch to 5k program that I’ve been doing since April. I actually finished the program 3 weeks ago, but today I took part in my first 5k – the Freedom Run in Oakboro, NC. If you don’t know, the C25K program is designed to get someone off the couch (non runners, in other words) and into a 5k in 3 months. My sister, Mary, also ran with me today. She followed a different couch to 5k training program. Hers was basically that she was on the couch yesterday and running a 5k today. Literally. She’s pretty fit, but she hasn’t run in years.

So, we show up at the table around 7:40 am and waited until they called us to the starting line. Then we waited for the 10 minute instructions on how the course was laid out to be finished. The more they talked about how I should go left on something and then right somewhere else and if I felt good I could jump the fence but if not maybe I would want to take the zig-zag opening in the fence beside the park, the more I kept thinking about how I should have velcroed my Garmin Nuvi 200 to my shirt so I wouldn’t get lost. At any rate, we finally got started and we had a blast!

I had a great time running with my sister – she did really well. Her goal was to run the first 2 miles before we walked, and we got close. She needed a minute walk or so around 1.75 miles. I think we walked twice, or maybe three times, but still came in right at 36 minutes (she was 55th at 36:04 and I was 56th at 36:05 – of course, I let her win *GRIN* ). Apparantly at these race things, the end is a succession of pretty rapid events. People cheer, your run a bit faster, there’s a big clock showing everyone how slow you are, you run even faster, and then when you cross the finish line they hand you a card with the place you finished. Can’t tell you how relieved I was to look down at my card and see a number. I was expecting the word “Last.”

So, now it’s onto week four of my new program, the One Hour Runner. I’ll be doing that in Mississippi while helping out with some Katrina relief. Week five will be done in West Virginia while I’m speaking to the Junior High youth camp in the Assembly of God Appalachian District. Should be swell.

So, I went down to Vac & Dash yesterday and signed myself and my sister, Vance’s mom, up for the Freedom 5k in Oakboro next Saturday (June 28th). I’m excited about experiencing my very first race day. My goals are very simple.

1. Have fun with Mary
2. Finish
3. Don’t look like this guy at the end

That’s it. I’ll post the results after the race.

I finished up the Couch to 5K program last week, so it was time to find a new challenge. I looked at quite a few that sounded good, but right now I just need to build up my base miles. So far, I’ve run a bit over 61 miles in just over 2 months. I need to get up around 15-20 miles a week, and right now I’m somewhere around 9-10. So (drumroll, please)…

…today I started the One Hour Runner (scroll down a bit to see the program). In 10 weeks, I will log a one hour run, which should be somewhere between a 5 or 6 mile run. I ran for 33 minutes tonight, which was cool, but the coolest part was what I saw during my run. To find out what it was, you’ll have to jump over to the 704 blog.