Today I will run my first 5K race. I started jogging on January 4th, about five and a half months ago. I began with a Couch To 5K program using an app on my iPhone. The first few times I alternated jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds. Each week, the Couch To 5K program helped me lengthen the amount of time I was jogging. Right now, I am not quite up to a full 5K in training. My plan is to do a jog/walk starting with at least a half mile or more of jogging followed by walking the remainder of the first mile. For the second mile, my goal is to jog the entire mile without any walk breaks. That might be a challenge since I’ve never done a full mile without walking in my training. But I’ve come very close and I feel like this is a great opportunity to challenge and push myself just a little bit extra. Next, I plan to walk for about a half mile and then finish the last half mile jogging. This 5K is at the Cleveland Zoo which is known for having a pretty challenging hill. Yikes! I’ve never run hills before.
To prepare for the 5K, I’ve made sure to get a good night’s sleep for the past two nights and I’ve been careful to eat healthy food that will not make me feel weighed down. I’ve done a little research and I’ve planned a smart breakfast for The Fella and me: Half an english muffin with half of a Tablespoon peanut butter and a banana. I’m also going to drink water before the race and I’m choosing to carry a bottle of water that is half frozen during the race. A lot of people hate the idea of carrying something while running. But I recently found out that I have problematic vocal cords and sipping water when my throat is dry or when I am feeling tense is a good way to keep my airways clear. I’ve carried water in training the past few times and I’ve found that I really don’t mind it and on hot days (like today) I really need it.
The 5K I am doing today is the Purple Stride race to raise money for pancreatic cancer research. I lost my grandfather to pancreatic cancer and The Fella’s dad is currently battling it. We also lost the father of a very close friend to the disease just over three years ago. I feel good about participating in this event. For more information, please check out http://www.pancan.org/.
I’ll be sure to post an update after the race to let you know how I fared.
ClevelandWhiteout 