We arrived at the race and signed up. I was proudly sporting my "Catch the BzzZZzz" t-shirt, compliments of New Reflections. I was immediately excited to start running. We had about 15 minutes to kill before the race started, so we stretched and warmed up, and waited to line up.
The start was a bit odd because I could barely hear someone talking about the course, etc., and then all of a sudden, I heard, "Ready, set, go!" And we were off! I didn't even have time to get nervous or anything.
This crowd was a little larger than at the Dunellen 5K, so I spent the first 1/4 mile or so dodging other people and trying to find my lane. I ended up getting stuck behind two women for about another 1/4 mile, when finally one of them dropped off and I passed her. I stayed even with the other one, and actually ran the duration of the race right alongside her. I found out she was a field hockey coach from Piscataway, and she was running with her team from the high school. I told her my story of C25K, and how two and a half months ago, I couldn't do what I was doing right now. She told me that she runs about once a year, and a little bit during field hockey practices. We were both so amazed at each other, and we formed an instant bond.
It was great to have someone to run with this time. We kept each other going and neither of us wanted to quit. I admit, there were a few times when I wanted to stop and walk, but I didn't want to let my new friend down. With about 3/4 mile to go, Evan came back to find me. I introduced him to my new friend and handed over my iPhone so he could take my picture as I was coming in to the finish line. We realized that we were doing great on time, and that encouraged us to pick it up a little bit. When we rounded the final turn, we picked it up even more and pushed it in to the finish line. I was really tired, so sprinting to the finish was harder this time. The sound of people cheering for you is such an encouraging sound and it fills you with great adrenaline. I realized when I saw the race clock that I was going to beat my time from the Dunellen 5K, and beat it I did. By two whole minutes! My race buddy and I hugged as if we had taken this whole journey together. We were so proud of each other, it was absolutely awesome. We congratulated each other, and then went our separate ways to cool down.
This was a really fun race. I really enjoyed myself. It was great to have a race buddy to keep me going and keep me motivated. I was stoked that I beat my first 5K time by 2 minutes. Oh, and that pain I was feeling in my shin? What pain? ;)
Here's me, about to cross the finish line!!
