Ok, maybe “addict” is a strong word but I have a new “want” in my life.  I ran the 5/3 Riverbank Run on Saturday in 40:50 and I want to do better!  Did I just say that I wanted to run another 5k?  Sheesh, what has come over me?  Despite the 40 degrees, the misty on and off rain, the 5:15am wake up call on a Saturday morning, the stupid cold that started the day before, an emotion came over me that I’ve really never experienced before.  I was among thousands of others ready to beat their best time or to say they actually did a 5k in their life, it was a goal I never knew I had in me, that I never thought I’d do in my lifetime.  Maybe it was my weight, that I never thought it was obtainable or the way I talk myself out of pushing myself that much farther?  All I know is that is was amazing to be apart of this, to have my husband, my brother and my sister-in-law cheering me on the whole way, not just on Saturday but way before that.  It truly was a life changing experience for me.

Friday, Alex and Gary picked up our runners packets at DeVos which came with official runners bibs.  It was surreal that one of them was mine!  We all spent the night at our house, taking in a rip roaring game of Settlers and prepping our shoes with our electronic timers.  It was really fun to be together the night before, talking about how excited we all were.  We left the house around 5:50am so we could beat all the road closings and to prepare ourselves mentally for the crazy weather Michigan threw at us that morning.  We gathered with the thousands of others downtown GR, checking in our bags, taking in the excitement and anticipation of the hardcore runners in their “outfits” and the hesistant looks of those who may have been talked into this event.

We starting lining up around 7:15am as our race started at 7:30am.  They were broken into paces from 7 minutes to 12 minutes.  Alex split up from us joining the 8 minute mile pacers while Gary, Sheila and I slowly became enclosed by all the 12 minute mile pacers.  Next to us was a line up of Marines that were sure to whiz by us as we began.  They actually kept a good pace that we followed for a bit while we listened to their chants – just being with them for a few minutes you could hear in their voices how they push past whatever is in their head to keep going in training and out keeping our country safe.  A very cool experience.

The whistle blew at 7:30 and just a few minutes later we were jogging down the road.  Gary said we were in this together, so we would start together and end together and that we did.  The first mile I was doing alright, feeling pretty good, sticking with Gary and Sheila no problem.  Then we started to come to some hilly areas and I started to lose momentum and I eventually told myself I needed to walk a couple minutes.  Not for very long, but I wanted to run the whole thing if I could.  So I picked up the pace again shortly there after and ran a little bit more.  I ran up a hill but at the crest walked a bit again.  Finally Gary told me all we had to do was round the buildings and we’ll be at the finish.  I kept telling myself that I need to finish strong.  When I saw the finish, that was all I needed.  Gary asked if I was ready to run and I said yes.  We started passing a bunch of people, he grabbed my hand so we could finish together.  And we did it!  Gary, Sheila and I crossed within seconds of each other.  Alex caught up with us right away and congratulated us, asking if we heard him screaming us on.  I said no!  I was so in the zone I didn’t hear him.  It was truly an experience I’ll never forget.  For the first time I felt like I was in the same ranks of ability of someone half my size.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m about 30-40 pounds away from my weight loss goal and that is another story for another time.  But for once, I did the same thing as my skinny mini, crazy metabolism little brother did and that felt awesome.  This is only the beginning for me to do more than I ever thought I would and could do and that’s motivation enough to move forward in this new life Gary and I decided to take on.  And for that, I’m ecstatic!