Running

Saturday was our "big' race.  I was looking for a race to run, and a friend told me about this one.  Our entire family could participate for $60, which is a steal for a family of five.  It was a church in Cary using the money to build a women's hospital in Haiti. It was my first 10k.  My dream (and maybe it is a dream) is to do a half marathon.  I see all these weight loss shows where the participants are able to do it, and I would love to scratch this one off my bucket list!!!..The trail was in Apex, but it was the most magnificent trail I have ever ran.  It was wooded and shaded (of course it was cool anyway in the morning) and COMPLETELY flat!!  Oh, how I wish we had a trail like this in our areas.  No hills whatsoever.....just miles and miles of this trail. (it is the tobacco trail).  Josh of course ran ahead of me and got a $20 gift card because he finished first in his age group (the only one in his age group:) ).  Jake and Jenna did a one mile fun run.  I don't know why I felt like such a failure in this race.  Maybe it was because there was not a huge number of participants and I finished toward the back of the pack.  Maybe it was because my sweet husband had to stay at my pace instead of going and perhaps getting an award himself. Maybe I feel like I disappointed him. I don't know what it was, but I didn't feel good.  Maybe I should just run by myself from now on and let everyone do their own thing and not feel pressure to keep up. 
     I ran the first 2.5 miles fine, although I couldn't believe it was only 2 miles when I hit the official sign.  In fact I am proud that I actually ran the first mile in 10 1/2 minutes (now I am showing how slow I am because I am going to show my honesty and admit I usually run 12-12 1/2 min miles).  The second mile I still was keeping an 11 min/mile pace.  After that my mind took over and I felt the task impossible.  My legs started hurting so I turned on my phone and started my run 3 min/walk 1 minute application.  I was hoping to make it 3 or more miles before that happened, but I didn't.  So, for the rest of the race I used my Jeff Galloway program and did my run/walk thing.
      Jeff Galloway has this program that he says is successful.  Supposedly runners are not as fatigued and also finish in better times.  I have used this for the past months and really like it.  It helps to have a minute to walk and catch my breath, but sometimes I wish I could reverse it and walk 3 min and run 1 minute!!  My next "dream" is to run/walk (I guess I can't say I run anymore) a 10 mile race and I still have my Big Dream of the half marathon in April.  Maybe it is just a dream, so stay tuned in the next several months to see if I am dreaming or if it becomes a reality and I actually do it in April!!