One more run down towards my half marathon goal.  Today I ran my 2nd officially timed 5K race.  I ran the race at the same place where I ran my first one.  This course is at a local park with many hills, it is so easy to forget how hard it is to run uphill. I beat my first time!

When I did the 5K at the end of June I ran the course in 43:38, today I had an official chip time of 42:22!  Shaved over a minute off my time, and my daughter was there at the finish line to cheer me on, it was an awesome feeling!  I placed 10th in my age group, 44-49 and 290 overall out of a field of 700.  I am not exactly an Olympic athlete BUT considering I just took up running a few months ago at the age of 48, I am very happy.

Already signed up for the next one, on a much flatter route, it is a few weeks away, hoping to do a little better than this one.  Each incremental improvement, no matter how small, makes me feel amazing.  I have a friend who participated in her first Half Iron Man today; she was nervous, a little scared and uncertain how she would do. When someone suggested perhaps she should wait and do one at a later date this is what she said – “It is ok for me to not finish, it is not ok for me to not start.”  I thought that was a pretty strong statement about overcoming fear and doubt and allowing yourself the courage to move forward.

169 days smoke free, 42 pounds down and 180 more nights sleep before the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  “It’s the job that is never started that takes the longest to finish.” – J. R. R. TOLKIEN