The Big Race!

Yesterday was the day of my first official race. It was a 5K for Running With Angels. It was held at Thanksgiving Point. The gardens there are BEAUTIFUL! Definitely hilly, but beautiful. I was wearing a tshirt for Heidi for her website that had names of angel babies on the back. I put a few angel babies names who meant a lot to me: Hayley Thomas, and Dallin Bybee. Here is a photo of the back of the tshirt.

We got a ton of comments about Heidi's tshirts, wanting information, so it was definitely worth it to wear them! As for the actual race part...UGGGHHHHHH! I really DON'T enjoy running. I enjoy saying I did it, and I was glad I did it (after about 30 minutes of being finished) but it is SO hard for me still. I have to say, I have come such a long way, and I still have a long way to go if I'm able to do my half marathon in August (only 12 weeks away...AGHHHH!). Cherice saved me. She stayed with me, and chatted away, which worked and distracted me. I only walked a very little bit, and stopped only because I had HORRIBLE cramps in my shins, that I stretched out, but other than that, I ran. Well, jogging in the mind of a runner, probably. I finished the race in less than 37 minutes. Not fantastic - but I still finished.

Here's a photo of Cherice and I. As we rounded the last corner, and had a straightaway to the finish line, Cherice said, "I'm going to be Jillian (from the Biggest Loser) pretend you're on the treadmill and she's making you run 12 mph for 10 seconds." So, we took off as fast as we could (which I'm sure wasn't very fast, considering it was at the end of the race, but it was fast for us. I'm really glad I did that. It also showed me that even though I was exhausted, I could do just a little bit more. Heidi was waiting at the finish line, and snapped this photo. Oh, and the thing around my waist held my cell phone, keys, and my ipod. It's called an amphipod for runners, and in no way is a fanny pack! ;) Here we are at the end of the race! WAHOO! We look beautfiul, I know! Here's the group of us that wore Heidi's shirt. (Memory and Jenn, I have one for you, email me your address!) Heidi is in the yellow, and you can read her take on the race here. Our stake is having a 5K this weekend, and I have a feeling I'm gonna get roped into running it (good prediction, right Heidi?). I know it will be a good experience for me, but I'm still worried about it! It's in our neighborhood which means there are bound to be MANY hills. Cherice actually taught me a lot during the race, and I'm excited to put it into use! Thanks Cherice, for sticking with me, even though your time wasn't what it should be, or what you wanted. I couldn't have done it without you! Also, if you know anyone who is doing a race, go cheer them on! There were lots of people cheering for other people, it would have been nice for people to be cheering for me - in person - not just in spirit! ;) Troy WILL be at the end of the half marathon. Oh, if you want to enlarge the photos, you can do it from Heidi's blog (The Vawdrey Family on the sidebar and link above). I stole all the photos from her. I left my camera at home. Don't laugh too hard at how beautiful I look!