Run for Ryan House 5K

I went home to Nevada on February 22nd to spend time with my mom for her birthday! Im a very lucky girl in terms of the fact that I have an awesome mom, she is my best friend and we get along really well. So, she and I had to prepare for this 5K that was, at that point ,less than two weeks away! So we went for a easy run around her neighborhood, just two miles, but at altitude I wasnt used to and with hills I hadnt run on, it was harder than I expected, but I made it work! It was fun just to have some one to run with and talk with. We did another short 1 miler a few days later just to keep up our cardio and give us a little bit of a workout for the day and we knew we were doing 3 miles the next day with Renee and PJ so we didnt want to exhaust ourselves. Now, I had never run three miles, I had done two miles at home in Mississippi, but never 3 so I was a little nervous. Renee and PJ showed up for our long run and we set out. Renee, PJ, and I run at a little faster pace than my mom and she told us to go on ahead and we started running, it was nice having them to talk to, keep my mind off the strain in my legs and the difficulty breathing. It was going pretty well, it was hard but they weren't stopping so I surely wasn't going to, so we pressed on, around the 2 mile mark we hit this hill, it was ridiculous, it was on a side street I had added to the course in order to make it into a 3 mile course, and it was painful! The whole street was uphill, something we had not expected, but we carried on until we got back to our house, the three of us had finished in 33:48, close to 11 minute miles again! YAY! I was thrilled, I ran 3 mile, without stopping, at a good pace no less! My mom came in a bit behind us with her best min/mile pace as well! It was a great day for all of us!

My trip home wasn't all about running, my mom and I spent a lot of time shopping, going out into town, watching Gilmore Girls (its our favorite show) and just spending time together. I got see my best friends from home Kirsten and Christina as well, which was great because I miss them so much when I'm not there, so it ended up being a great trip all around! I even go to see my brother and his new fiancee, Mary, who I love! Oh, did I mention that in all that shopping my mom and I did that our goal was to find cute running outfits, I mean seriously who wants to run their first race in ragged old workout clothes, we didn't, so we started searching! We actually found some great deals at a new Outlet mall in Reno that had a Nike and Addidas store, so we were now ready for the run, decked out in super cute attire!

Renee, Mom, and I drove to Arizona Thursday before the race, it was a LONG drive, but it was really fun, just talking and hanging out. We even drove through Vegas, where Renee's mom lives, and had lunch with her, so that was fun. We drove across the Hoover Dam, which I had never seen before and then on to Prescott Arizona to see Amy! PJ and Katie were flying in Friday night because Katie had school and PJ had a family obligation. So Friday morning, Mom, Renee, Amy, and I got up and walked to the place the race was going to be the next day to pick up our shirts/packets... and check out the health booths that were set up. We got our body fat tested, which wasn't actually very fun, haha, but we had a good time none the less, and then we walked back to the house to get the car so we could go to lunch. I spent most of the rest of the day laying by Amy's pool which was awesome and the weather was SO nice! We picked up Katie and PJ that night, went to dinner, and then we went home to crash because we knew we had to get up at 6 to get to the race.

6am came very early the next morning but we were all pretty excited about the race! All 6 of us squished into Amy's car, which only sits 5 and drove to the race. We got there, put our numbers on, went to the bathroom one last time, and we were off. We had chip timers on our shoes that had been given to us so that they could track our exact time of start and finish. We set out a good pace, Renee and Katie out ahead a little, Amy and PJ near me and Mom a bit behind us. As we continued to run, we realized the majority of the first half was uphill, eek! My legs were not happy but I was not going to stop for anything, so I kept trucking along, falling behind Amy and PJ, but going at my best pace. I stopped at the water station, took two swigs to get my mouth and throat wet and threw the cup aside and continued on. Once we turned around at the far end of the course to start heading back it was easier, because it was mostly downhill. We continued to race along, watching the woman with the stroller, the girl in the running skirt that was much to small and just trying not to focus too much on the pain in my legs. I got to the bridge where we started and knew I only had to get to the finish line, so I started to sprint, and crossed the finish line in 33:05, my best time yet! I was so excited and exhausted at the same time, as soon as I came across the girls were waiting for me with a bottle of water and a banana! Katie had finished first, followed by Renee, PJ, and Amy! I went and grabbed one for mom and we all waited for her to come across the finish line to join the group! We were runners now, we had all ran and finished our first official race! It was an amazing feeling! It was a huge accomplishment and I felt like I had done something great!

After walking around for a little while, watching others cross the finish, and watching the first of the half-marathoners come across the finish (they were really fast) we went back to the car to celebrate with Champagne! Renee had made each of us a champagne glass with 5K painted on it and our name, we filled up (some of us with mimosa's and others with just champagne) and we toasted to our accomplishment! It was a great great day! It was funny to watch all the passer's by who watched us standing around the car drinking champagne, they thought were were crazy, or maybe wished they had to thought to do it. Once the champagne was finished we walked to starbucks for our morning fix of coffee and then headed back to the house to relax and lay in the sun, truly the best day ever! It was so relaxing and it felt so great to know we had accomplished the first goal in that we set for ourselves with our new running regimen! We had dinner that night on the patio, swapping stories, and talking about the race, and just enjoying each others company. We planned to go to bed early that night, but we didn't want to miss out on time together, and ended up going to bed a bit later than we anticipated. The other girls were all driving home to Nevada the next morning, and Amy was taking me to the airport so I could fly home to Mississippi to see my husband after two weeks away. All in all the trip was AWESOME! And I cant imagine a better group of amazing girls to be doing this with! They all rocked the 5K and I cant wait to run the half marathon with them in the fall!

My Race Stats (#262)
-33:05
-10:39 min/mi
-Overall Rank: 312/529 finishers (there were a lot more people who did it and didn't finish)
-Female Rank: 152/319
-Division Rank (age 20-24): 12/21

Also Run for Ryan House was the charity that we ran for, its a great cause, and Ryan (who the charity is named for) was even in the race, in his wheelchair, it was truly inspirational! If you are interested in checking it out, here is the link http://ryanhouse.org/