211.2; Have I Mentioned I'm A Runner?

That's me.  After I ran my first 5K outside.  Yes, you read that right.  First 5 K outside. 

Saturday morning I went to the Prior Fat Girl meetup and talked with some wonderful women about their journeys.  Shared some information about myself.  Awesome time.  I always leave these feeling pumped up and ready to battle my way through whatever I need to do.

On the drive home I was blasting my 80's Hair bands with my windows down.  I decided that was the afternoon I was going to run outside.  When I got home Pete said he'd come with.  I wanted to go to the park we walk at for a few reasons.  It's mostly flat.  I know the route from walking it.  It's usually not crowded.  There are some shady areas that provide cooler temps. 

On the way there I kept saying to Pete:  I can do this, right?  He kept telling me that I could.  I told him that my goal was to run it in less than an hour.  I figured that running outside would add to my time because it's physically harder to do.  I asked Pete how he thought I was going to do.  He told me that he thought I'd run 30 feet.  When he said that I was upset and told him that he was supposed to be pumping me up.  He again told me that I could do it.

I got out, put my music on, started my Nike+ application on my phone and headed out.  There is a small portion nearing the parking lot that is wooded and I ran through there without stopping at all!  YAY!  When I cam out to the clearing Pete was there cheering me on and ready to run with me.  I ran about 3/4 of a mile without stopping and then had to walk for a bit.  I alternated walking/running the next 1 1/4 miles; running more than walking.  Then the next 1/2 mile I walked.  My legs were tired, but that wasn't stopping me.  It was that I was outside and my asthma was acting up some because of the pollen.  When I got close to the parking lot and knew that I was getting close to the end, I started running again.  Pete was encouraging me, telling me that I can do it and keep going.  I kept saying "Anything is better than nothing" over and over in my head, waiting for the Nike+ program to tell me that I had gone 3.1 miles.

Finally I did it!.  44:08 minutes; just over 14 minute mile average and my first mile was 13 minutes.  Holy Crap!  I ran a 5K outside.  I really can do this!  And my time wasn't that far off of my treadmill time.  I think I felt like I was going slow, but because I can't pace very well yet, I was actually going about what I normally do. 

While we were walking back to the car, Pete told me that the first time he tried to run outside he ran 30 feet, was discouraged and stopped.  He didn't want me to be discouraged, but wanted me to know that it was ok, to run a short time, as long as I kept going.  I understood his comment much better with the explanation.

Saturday afternoon my feet hurt and yesterday my hips were aching.  I realized that my shoes are the end of their life and I need to get new ones to avoid soreness and injury.  But you know what?  I can't wait to get outside and run again.  I think I need to add at least one outside run to my weekly workout routine.