First 5K of the year...

Tomorrow I am running the Valentine's Day 5K. My first 5K of the year. Along with my goal of getting exercise everyday I am also planning to run a 5K every other month plus (maybe) the Twin Cities 10 miler in October. I am a goal oriented person and I like to have deadlines and things to work toward. Last fall I started running again and my goal was a 5K in December. Check, got that done. My friend Jen ever so graciously ran it with me even though we are the most incompatible running partners ever! 

Today I picked up my number and shirt for tomorrow's race. The *taken* is for my back. Since it's a Valentine themed event people can wear a sign on their back (if they want) to indicate if they are available, taken or it's complicated (I think that's the other choice). I guess meeting someone at a race is better than a bar (maybe).

 I also got my shirt and was able to find a cold weather compression top at Target on clearance. I'm not opposed to having something like this in my running wardrobe but I will most likely not wear it often so I was happy about the clearance part. It's a little fleecy on the inside. I may need to sew a pocket on it though as my running pants only have a small key pocket and I like to run with my phone too.

 When I picked up my race number and shirt the running store was offering 20% of purchases for race participants so I picked up some new shoes. It may not be the best idea to run a race in new shoes ( I don't really know) but they are just the newest version of my current shoes. I have been having some foot pain and the guy at the store thought maybe my shoes were wearing out. He said he gets pain in the same spot when his start to go. They also match my outfit better than my old ones :-)

 We've had an unseasonable warm winter here in MN but for today and tomorrow it's going to be much more arctic. Lucky me! Which is the reason for the warmer top! As long as I'm moving I'll be fine.

It probably seems as though I'm making a big deal out a little ol' 5K. BUT I am not a runner. Well, I guess that's not true. I run, so I'm a runner. I don't subscribe to the whole "jogging" thing because if it's not walking, it's running. And I'm not fast. I guess what I mean is I'm not the traditional runner in the sense that I've been doing it since high school or college. I started running in my mid 20s and it was a long process to get to a place where I feel like I enjoy it. Partly why I started was because I am a little competitive but I'm not a team sport person. I was a dancer and I did that competitively for awhile but after college I basically gave it up. Running is just a personal challenge that I enjoy and it's faster than walking. Although lots of taller people can walk as fast as I run! And in junior high and high school part of the Presidential Physical Fitness challenge was running a mile. I could not do that. And it always bothered me. Now, I can run a mile. And I may not run all my miles consecutively (I still take walk breaks) but now I can run. And I'm damn proud of that.