One Year and 10 Races

Today... marks my very First Running Anniversary. Yes, this is the first year in my running career [if there is such a thing hahaha]...my 11th race so far since I started... and already my 4th 5K for this year.

Like any anniversaries - this is a very important event to me. It's the anniversary of my 360 degrees mental, physical and psychological turn-around. Yes, it has been one year now since I made that drastic decision to take charge of my life. It has been a year now since I ran The Great Scot Trot 5k - a decision that I never regret.

Time flies quickly. I have ran 10 5k races in a span of one year and now I am looking forward to more races and trainings.

I have braved mental torture on thinking "why am I doing those stu**d laps around the Bonney Eagle HS tracks". I have endured physical torment of weight lifting for strength training. And yes, I have psyched myself up to rationalize that all those grueling training days and nights are part of my life as a runner. Hah! It does feel good to call myself a runner though deep inside I know I just either walk or jog my way to the finish lines. wink*

 This is me last year at the Finish Line. Notice the snow on the background.

Today, is my second Great Scot Trot 5k. I walked up to the sound of rain. I walked up hoping that they cancel the race. But then I realized this is my 1st year anniversary, it should not ruin the momentum. So I ran the race in freezing rain and landed 164th on the list with a breaking record [wink* wink* and another wink*] of 35:03 PR. It was 5 minutes and 45 seconds less than my first one.

This is me on my 1st Year Running Anniversary.

And yes I wasn't 5th to the last like last year. I was 66th to the last [one huge wink*] this year. Yay! To me and to more races until - my Second Year Anniversary.

My 3rd 5k for 2012

Same time last year... I was so excited because it was my first time to join any event that has something to do with "walking and running". At first I just wanted to be a part of the team who supported Sandy Orr, one of the secretaries where I work. She lost her battle to cancer that year and in memory of her we did the Mary's Walk and Kerrymen Pub 5k at Saco, Maine, which is an event that benefits the Maine Cancer Research. That year, I planned to run but I chickened out so I just "walked" with the rest of the team.

This year, I finally got the guts to run. And this year, this event meant so much to me because early this year, I got a "cancer scare" when my Doctor found an abnormal cell in my latest pap smear. Good thing my Ob Gyne assured me that there is nothing to worry about and the abnormal cell turned out to be "normal", quite ironic. It's a long story and it has nothing to do with running. lol

 This was me last year at the Mary's Walk getting ready to "walk".

Anyway, so I finally signed up for the 5k race and became part of the pack... the last part of the pack, that is. wink* Though I thought I know everything about running after doing it for at least once every month since last year, I was still overwhelmed with the experience. It was a fine sunny day, for some reasons I cannot explain. If you live in Maine you know what I mean. It's still winter here at this time of the year.

This is me this year getting close to the Finish Line at Mary's walk.

So I did run the Mary's Walk. No elderly women passed me by this time. LOL. And my only goal is to pass by the lady in front of me whom I beat by a matter of 2 seconds. hahahaha [There she was the one in the blue shirt.] I clocked in 38:01 and ranked 921st among the close-to-a-thousand runners and I ranked 56th in my Division which has 58 runners. hahaha Well it's not bad at all considering that I did finish the race and I didn't chicken out this time.