Run Annie, Run!

Yesterday I ran my first 5K race, a "Run with Santa" at the Reston Town Center (That's me in the pink in the photo to the right). This has been a huge goal of mine for many years. If I had a bucket list, this would be on it, so I'm so excited to cross this off my "list."

Running is not easy for me. It's challenging and I guess I like to challenge myself. haha. I tried running a couple of years ago and got in shape with running and yoga. Two things I truly love to do, but running was always harder for me to do. I think that's why I like it! I got off track a bit before I could ever complete a race and so this fall I set my mind to finally reach this goal.

I signed up for a running class with my favorite trainer, Sharon Adams (omg, the best motivator in the world, I love every class I take with Sharon!). I signed up for my race, and I was off! I had shin problems throughout my training, but I stuck with it. And yesterday, I ran my first race!

My sister's fiance, Ryan, was there next to me running the race. Ryan was great. He kept saying things like, "I think I hear Sharon saying, 'Annie, You're number one!' or 'We're doing great. We're almost there!'" That kept me going and we made through the race without stopping. That was my goal-to not stop. We finished at 39:07, just under 40 minutes, but hey I'll take it! It was cold when we started, probably 35-40 degrees. Burr! But we warmed up quickly and it turned out to be a great race. I even got my picture taken with Santa afterward! :) Matt, my parents, and my sister came out to cheer us on too. It was an early morning so I was really glad that everyone came and cheered for us. I think they were just as excited for us as we were when we finished.

I think out of all the training, I not only feel better because I'm exercising more, but I feel like I can do anything now. I think in life, we often times don't set goals for ourselves and achieve them. Big or small, we should strive for something always. Challenge yourself in life and if you set your mind to do it, you will and in the end, you will feel like you can achieve something even greater!