Running with Purpose

This weekend I ran my very first 5k at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Austin. This was not my first Race for the Cure; in fact, it was my 5th. I've walked in the Houston RFTC with the Cyndi's Warriors team three years in a row, and Ryan and I walked the Austin 5k in 2008 (the year my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer). Until recently, I would have NEVER thought I'd be running a 5k, or even one mile. Here's the story of how I managed to cross the finish line.

The Couch-to-5k Running Plan is a 3 workout per week interval training program that boasts it can help even novice runners complete a 3.1-mile run in 9 weeks. I first heard of the program quite a while ago, but I always told myself I was just not a runner. I believed some people were natural runners - my husband, father-in-law and sister-in-law, for example - and others were just not built for it.  Clearly, I was the latter. I have flat feet, poor posture, and a chest that is large enough to cause some issues. The most running I had ever done was our weekly mile in freshman basketball, and I always finished toward the back of the pack.

Me as a freshman one-miler

As the summer was winding down, the weight loss I achieved in the first part of the year had stalled, and I needed a boost to get me back on track. I decided to give Couch to 5k a shot. At first the thought of it was a bit daunting. My fellow Texans will know that we were still experiencing 100-degree days in late August, so I was careful to time my runs late enough to miss the scorching heat. Before I got started, I wondered how I would keep track of the changing run/walk intervals without feeling totally overwhelmed. Then I found the C25K iPhone App by Bluefin Software, LLC. This $2.99 purchase took all the thinking out of the workouts for me. I could just open it up, chose the next workout in the series and listen to my own energizing playlist while the app notified me when to walk, run and when I had reached key milestones. For an extra $0.99 I upgraded the app to map my runs and track my distance and pace. I mentioned I was doing a 5k program to my good friend Brittany after one of my first workouts. She hadn't run in a long time and was looking to get back into it, so she got the iPhone app, too. We decided we would do the November 13th Race for the Cure together as our first official 5k.

My girl, Britt, and me in the cute race shirts she made

The program started off relatively easy with 20 minutes of 60- and 90-second run/walk intervals. The real challenge began in the second week with 8-minute run segments, and it was an uphill climb from there. There were many times I felt so terrible while I was running that I wondered who would really care if I quit. Whenever I got in that frame of mind, I remembered my mother and how bravely she fought against breast cancer. After we discovered the cancer had spread, everything was a challenge for her. She worked tirelessly in physical therapy to learn how to walk again after brain surgery. In spite of her chemotherapy treatments and multiple sessions of brain radiation, she was determined to make our previously scheduled family vacation. Even though her lungs were so full of tumors that she was constantly out of breath, my mom wouldn't let that stop her from getting out of the house every chance she could to live a "normal" life for those final months. I would think of all that when I ran, and I knew bowing out of the race was not an option.

My courageous mom and me in October 2009

On race day, I was feeling a little apprehensive. College Station is extremely flat, and the downtown Austin course would take us through some major hills.  However, I knew I would finish the run. I didn't really care how long it took me or how crappy I felt at the end; I would get through it. Ryan and Brittany's fiance, Chris, decided to run, too.

Brittany, Chris, me and Ryan before the run

We did the untimed run with a rolling start time. The excitement of the event helped us start off with a quick pace. To me, the first mile seemed like nothing. But as the sun got higher and the inclines kept coming, I started to get tired and out of breath. At some point I realized one of my toenails was creating a cut in the toe beside it, but I blocked that out of my mind. I think Ryan could tell I was struggling when he asked me to tell him how far we'd gone (by checking my app), and I barked at him that I didn't know and wasn't going to look. He has been so supportive through this adventure, and I am lucky to have his encouragement.

Ryan ran behind me the whole race even though he is much faster than me

We all ran the race as a group and managed to finish in just over 31 minutes. As we turned a corner and caught sight of the finish line, we all got an extra burst of energy to speed up and finish strong. Britt and I were very proud of ourselves, even though we were all hot, sweaty messes. The picture doesn't quite do it justice.

We did it!

My experience training and running the 5k has been a great one. Even though I still don't feel like a natural runner and can't say I really enjoy running, I feel the rewards far outweigh the difficulties. I plan to participate in at least two local 5ks before the end of the year, and I would recommend the Couch-to-5k program to anyone. Today I purchased the Bridge to 10k app so I can start working toward a new goal - but probably not until early next year ;)