Monster Dash 5K Recap

I was feeling some pretty serious anxiety over the fact that I was going to run a 5K on Saturday. I’ve “run” 5Ks before – mostly untrained. Most of them ended in tears. I was feeling “okay” about the Monster Dash. I wasn’t sure how it would go because I had only gotten half way through my 5K training and honestly had kind of abandoned it to go with running 5 minutes, and walking 1 minute intervals. It seemed like a good way to get through it without being sorely disappointed in myself.

I spent some time getting ready for the race on Saturday morning. I had painted my nails the night before. It felt silly to put on make-up to go run, but I generally feel more put together when I’ve thrown some make-up on. My costume for the race was a tutu I made and my Vote No t-shirt. Anyone who knows me, knows I am crazy about this election season. So why not make myself a walking political statement?

 

After I got ready, I went to a coffee shop down the street to get a small chai and a banana. The barista and I had a good conversation about the race and how adorable my tutu was. She wished me luck and I was on my way.

I didn’t truly understand how massive this race was and how stupid parking would be. I parked a few blocks away and walked to where the race would start. I was getting kind of nervous. As I was standing around, just observing everyone, a woman came up to me to thank me for my costume. We – okay, she talked about the amendment and how terrible it is. I just nodded along. We hugged a few times and I may have teared up a bit. But it was good – and I was happy to see other folks in tutus and their Vote No t-shirts.

So, the race.

It seriously took 5 minutes for me to even get to the starting line. That’s how large this race was. I found it difficult to break away from the crowd, but I also found the crowd energizing. I must have this weird issue with my emotions because when I was running at the end, I started to tear up. I think it was a mix of feeling proud of myself for not giving up – for only walking when I planned on it (for the most part) and for shaving 5 minutes off my time from last weekend.

There are a lot of people in my life who would probably be shocked I willingly ran 3.1 miles. Heck, in grade school, I mostly refused to run the 1 mile you had to do twice a year and now running is slowly becoming my sport of choice.

I was super grateful my friend Holly came to meet me at the finish line. I was grateful she came out even in this cold weather. I was attempting to spot her in the crowd as I ran up to the finish line but it’s really overwhelming when there are so many spectators.

So, I finished.. slowly. 41.55. Much faster than last weekend, but now I have a time to work to beat. So that’s exciting.

Also, I’m kind of obsessed with my finisher’s medal. I texted my dad later that night with a photo and said, “I don’t think I’ve ever won a medal before.”

Maybe next time I’ll actually invite my family. But I’m sure it would be super boring for them.

OKAY ONE MORE PHOTO OF HOW AWESOME MY MEDAL IS. (my shoes are cute, too.)

 

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