The Saturday Review: Race Day (Aspiring Runners MUST-READ)
++This Giveaway is now closed++
The winner of the 5K of their choice is: MissLoFly!! Congrats girl! Send me an email so we can get you registered for that Disney 5k in September!! (christieo@shrinkingjeans.net)
It is dark.
Your alarm clock has woken you up (for the second or third time) but you’ve been half awake all night anyway, it’s just time now to drag yourself out of bed.
You can’t believe you’re awake this early. You are exhausted but not.
You’ve laid out all your clothes already including your race number, maybe you’ve even bought a new outfit for the occasion: It’s Race Day. And it’s your first.
You try to eat a decent breakfast, maybe a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter or oatmeal and a banana but your stomach is in nervous knots so you do your best. You have coffee, some water, but still, you’re nervous.
You grab a GU.
It’s time to go.
You arrive and you park and it is still dark and you’re wondering where all of these people came from and how they all knew about this day because it is their race day too. They all look like “real” runners. They think the same of you too.
You feel like everyone is staring at you and that they all know it’s your first time which they don’t. They are all just as nervous as you.
You are amazed by the number of people who surround you right now, people of all shapes and sizes and ages, there are jogging strollers, elderly people, families, even amputees. Everyone around you is about to run a race before most people are even awake and the energy is exciting and it pumps through your veins.
You’re amazed at how friendly everyone is, chattering excitedly about the weather, the course, you wonder why it’s called a “race” and why it’s a competition because it’s really a community of we’re in this together.
You now have a new bond with a couple hundred (or even thousand) of your new best friends.
You take your place at the starting line, sort of in the middle, toward the back because you’re nervous. It is almost time. You turn your I-Pod on and get ready.
This is what you’ve trained for.
This is why you’ve dragged yourself out into the neighborhood day after day, out onto the treadmill, to the gym, all of that sweating and questioning yourself and digging down deep to find what you got. The moment is here and it is now.
It is time to run.
You have your best race. Or you have your worst.
But whatever happens, you cross a finish line and the finish line means so much more than a simple line that you’ve crossed. It’s a goal you’ve set, a mountain you’ve climbed and a boundary you have just pushed.
You’ve just run your first race.
You are hot and sweaty and it hurt to get there, but you’re curious now. How far can I go?
The sky is the limit.
* * *
We talk here at the Sisterhood about running races all the time and to many people who have never run a race it can be intimidating. I set a goal for a 5k when I was 60 pounds overweight and just wanted something to work toward. I wasn’t looking to set records, I wasn’t looking to finish first, I was looking to get somewhere and paying for a 5k was a built-in goal and reward. I was going to cross the finish line any way I could and with a race date looming, it gave me built in motivation to get to the gym and not skip a workout.
I lost 17 pounds and the 5k hurt like hell. But crossing the finish line 17 pounds lighter meant so much more to me than crossing the finish line. I was getting somewhere. In my life. And what I learned about myself was so much more valuable than that one time race fee.
You don’t have to be a runner; millions of people walk 5ks, 10ks, half-marathons and even marathons.
You just have to have the heart.
Do you?
Because we will pay for one 5k race FOR YOU to get started!! All you have to do is cross the finish line! Go check out Couch to 5k, the program so many of us used. And then go to www.active.com and see if there are any 5k races in your area. Have you already started Couch to 5k and you haven’t signed up for a race yet? Are you totally freaked out by doing a 5k? This is your time to leave a comment and get started!
TO ENTER:
- Leave a comment and tell us if you’ve ever run a race. If so, which one? If not, which one would you pick?
- Follow the Sisterhood on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway! Be sure to mention @shrinkingjeans. Here’s a short link for you: http://bit.ly/gQF7ke
- Like the Sisterhood on Facebook and tell all your Facebook friends about this giveaway for an extra entry. Come back here and leave a comment for the with a link to your profile so we can like you back!
This giveaway is open to everyone no matter your running skill. We’d love to see people who have never run a race enter, because the goal to run a race is exhilarating!
Giveaway ends on Friday, January 21st at midnight PST. Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Saturday the 22nd. This giveaway is sponsored by the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.
Category: Christie O., Giveaways, LOVE IT, MOVE IT, Running, The Sisterhood
