Run

I feel like I want this post to be able to summarize all that I felt today, but not sure if that is possible. I finished my first 5K today. It was amazing. Well, it was mostly really hard, but the end was amazing. It was hard because the wind was blowing so hard it almost could blow you to a stop. Then, about halfway through the rain started. At first it was a light drizzle that made you think, "wow, this actually feels good right now, no big deal". That lasted about two minutes before it just poured, and I mean poured. That didn't end until the end of the race, just kept dumping on us. My sister and I ran almost the whole thing together, she stopped to walk for a few minutes and I kept running. I ran by myself for quite awhile until all of the sudden she was next to me again. She had sprinted her little behind in order to finish with me. It was awesome.

This race today had a plethora of meaning to me. The American Cancer Society is a charity that I hold near and dear to my heart due to all of those that I have lost that I loved to that illness. Also those who have fought and won or are still fighting. After my experience last summer I had set all of these goals in front of myself to accomplish. Things that I honestly, without a doubt, never thought I could do. No lie, when I started running, I couldn't make it two blocks before having to stop. It is still hard for me. I have to talk myself through every run. My knees don't appreciate it at all, but thanks to ice and ibuprofen they are making it through.

Two people I thought of today the whole time are the mothers of two good friends of mine who lost their fight to this terrible disease. They were both two of the most amazing women that I ever had the pleasure to meet. I ran in their memory and talked to them both during the race, asking them to help me through when I wanted to slow to a walk. The flags I purchased in their memories are shown above.

I'll post a few more pics when I have them from my sister.