My first 5k

At the beginning of October I was in serious need of exercise and my friend Leslie invited me to come walking with her one fine, crisp morning. I went, mostly for the social conversation, but also to get some much needed exercise. Well- she happens to walk faster than I do and I found that I needed to do a little jogging to keep up. We ended up running a bit and found that we liked running. We decided to get together 2x a week to keep up our efforts. After a few weeks of running I found that I loved being outdoors. The feel of the wind against my face and breathing in of fresh air (sometimes mixed with the fumes of passing cars) was invigorating. I began running every day- after I drop the kids at the bus or before david left for work. I told Leslie that I was doing the Turkey Trot 5K and she said she would do it too. When I first started jogging a mile killed me. i was winded, sore, and dreading how much further I had to go. Now 2 months later and a 5K behind me I am longing to do more. I can run up to 5 miles and am aiming at doing a 10K and possibly a 1/2 marathon. Running is my time to be alone, to think, to process my life, no one needs me, no one wants anything from me and I can think and act for myself. I'm still a bit sore but it reminds me I am active and living. Here are my before and after pics at the Thanksgiving day/Turkey Trot 5K. It was extremely cold and by the time it started my toes were a little numb and my nose was frozen and in spite of it I'll do it again next year.