My first 5k!

This morning, I ran my first 5k race! My chip time was 32:47.5, which was better than the 35:00 that I expected. (The race time was 32:54.7 because I started in the middle of the pack. I'll take the chip time, hehe.)

I positioned myself in the 30-35 min pack

So far, I had completed up to the end of week 4 of the C25K program. The next step - week 5 day 1 - was to alternate running for 5 minutes and walking for 3 minutes.

And we're off!

I decided to push myself a little harder for race day. My goal was to run at least 1k before I took my first walk break.

To my pleasant surprise, I made it almost to the 2k mark before I decided to take my first walk break - almost 11 minutes! This was a nice milestone because the first batch of firefighters were waiting at the 2k mark to pass out water (tee hee).

See the firetruck?

Sunnybrook Park was an absolutely gorgeous course! The fall colours were at their best, and the weather was perfectly brisk.

Another batch of firefighters greeted us at 3k.

In total, I ran probably somewhere between 3.5 to 4k out of the 5k course. I'm feeling optimistic that I'll be able to run the entire 5k within a few weeks. If I can do that, and if I start my next race a little further up in the pack and pace myself against someone faster, I should be able to break 30 minutes.

According to the lap times I tracked on my iPhone, I did the following:

Run 10:53

Walk 1:45

Run 6:37

Walk 1:37

Run 8:21

Walk 0:27

Run 3:18

The mister, and my friend Lena were cheering at the finish

A picture with Mr. Peanut for good measure

The race was great fun and I look forward to the next! Thanks to everyone who encouraged me!