This past Sunday April 10th 2011, I was at the Iron Girl 5k at Clearwater Florida, and.....

I jogged my first 5K and finished in 1:05 and 30 seconds!

That was the longest I have ever jogged in my entire life!!!


Woohoo!

Now I'm hooked, and am getting ready for my 2nd 5k on April 23rd.....

I feel like my life has completely changed.  I feel like I can do anything I put my mind to!!


Just wanted to share and to read how everyone felt after finishing running their first 5K!

Congratulations!

My 1st 5k was also the longest I had ever run in my life up to that point. 

I felt like I could take on the world afterwards.

Running was NEVER something I looked forward to - even when I was young and in shape.  In fact, I played sports and I looked at it as a punishment.  (i.e., "You were late for practice.  Take 3 laps!").

Now I can't wait to get out and run.  (Well, maybe not every day but you get the picture).

I'll tell you what others told me when I made the discovery you have made:

1).  Take it easy.  Don't try to increase your intensity or mileage too much at once or you can get injured.  Move up slowly and the gains will last.

2).  Surround yourself with others on this E&F board and with other runners in your local community.  I joined a runner's club and have made some great friends that also have the bug.  The support I have received has been outstanding. 

3).  The better you eat, the faster and truer your weighloss and muscle gains will be.  My weightloss stalled a bit when I started running but my clothes fit better.  I gained muscle and lost fat.  When I really cleaned up my eating, the weight came off even faster.

I'm really glad you have got the bug!
Let us know the results of your next race!

How did I feel.  I felt like I swallowed a flaming sword.

No, not really.  I felt "free" for the first time in my life.  I felt like I could accomplish anything I set my mind to.  Every race, every p.r., every accomplishment  is something I never thought I could ever do.

ROY

Wow thanks guys for your stories, they really are truly inspiring! 

I will do an update in a couple of weeks after my second 5k.

Mazel Tov! I'll let you know how I feel after my first 5K in two weeks. I'm going to try to run the whole thing, but so far I'm only up to 2 miles running. The halfs I mostly walked. But when I crossed the finish line at my first half, I was in tears of joy and wonder that I did it! And I had to pee really really bad so I was looking for that bathroom, so I barely stopped for a picture. LOL

Jan