A (Small) Goal Accomplished

I mentioned in a post a couple months back that I decided to run in a 5K race on New Year's Day. That plan is still on track, and to prepare for the experience of participating in an organized run, I signed up for a 1 mile fun run that took place on Thanksgiving Day.

I was a bit nervous and kept looking at R and asking, "What on Earth was I thinking when I signed up for this??" But I accomplished my two goals for the day: 1) I ran the whole thing, and 2) I didn't finish last.

In fact, I finished in the top half overall for the 1 mile race. Not that that is truly impressive, mind you, when you consider that 1) the first 10 or 12 finishers were children and 2) my time was upwards of 12 and a half minutes. But still, it gives me motivation. And I finished just below the top 1/3 among all the women who did the 1 mile. Again, I'm sure many of them were walking it just for fun and not for a time, so it doesn't really count. But it gives me a benchmark to start.

My goal for the 5K remains the same - to finish, and hopefully not finish last. But I expect to be very close to last, because the Thanksgiving Day race also included a 10-mile run and a 5K. And for that 5K, most of the participants averaged a 10-minute mile or less. I didn't even come close to a 10-minute mile when I was only doing 1 mile, so I know I certainly won't be close to that this time around when I'm doing 3.1 miles. But that's okay. At least I'm in the race at all.

And I have to say, it feels really good to be accomplishing a goal, even if it's a small one.