Run for the Refuge 5K

On Saturday I ran my first real 5K since before I was pregnant.  During the summer Billie and I ran/walked a 5K, but this past Saturday I was able to run the entire 3.4 miles.  Back before I was pregnant, I had built up my running to the point that 3 miles was a light to normal run. Well, these last few weeks I have been back on the running wagon and I knew this race was coming up so my goal was to run the entire race.

The Run for the Refuge was to benefit the Refuge for Women, which is a great cause to give my $20 race registration fee to. Plus the race was at my church and around the surrounding neighborhoods (we passed 2 of my friends' houses on the course.) Plus my MUMs (mops) group was a sponsor of this race, so I decided it would be a great race to get back into the swing of things.

Oh, and I was still trying to decide whether I was actually going to run the race or not when my MUMs group contacted me and asked if I would be willing to coordinate a group of MUMs girls to run/walk the race and also do a t-shirt for all involved so we could stand out among the crowd. So that was what finally pushed me to commit to running the race (and training for it).

I missed my running friends. It's way more fun to run a race when you're running next to your friends and talking with them (or in my case, listening while they talk since I'm usually too winded to respond).  But Billie is about a month away from welcoming baby E to the world and Lindsy was out of town, so I was on my own running this one. We had a great turnout of MUMs girls (at least 25 which was really great since it was only 34* out) but some were fast runners and lots decided to walk and push their strollers.

Jonathan and Adalyn came to cheer me on. Thankfully they had the warmth of the church while they waited for me because it was so cold out! I loved seeing my girl's smile when she saw me after the race! She was dressed in her Halloween costume because that was part of the race... they invited all runners and kids to dress up! (I have enough of a struggle to run dressed for running, so there was no way I was going to attempt a costume on top of that!)  I ended the race able to sprint the last portion and finished at 32 minutes. Nowhere close to a personal best for me, but with my condition (carrying around an extra 25 lbs and just started back running in the last month) I'm happy with my finish time.

(After the race - looking especially lovely. My face matches my shirt! HA!)

Now that I've got this race under my belt, I'm back to being addicted to running in races! I love the feeling of race day! Maybe I'll sign up to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving in Toledo! Either way, I'm going to keep up running in my neighborhood at least twice a week. I don't always love running, but somewhere during the second mile my runners high kicks in and I enjoy the feeling. And lets be honest, I enjoy reaping the benefits of running...I've still got lbs to lose!