"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."
-John Bingham, running speaker and writer
I am a walker. A pretty fast one. I can out walk my husband and sons who have a much longer stride, my daughters who are much younger than me and every neighbor or friend I have ever had the joy of walking with. I love to walk but I am not a runner. I want to be one, sometimes.
For my 13th challenge I decided to run in a 5K. There was a cause I believed in and so I jumped in! I ran in the Women for Decency Pummel Pornography race. April 23, 2016 in Lindon, Utah.
To help me prepare for the run I exercised as often as I could...mostly doing some in home videos that I found! I will add a link to them after this post. I found the Jessica Smith videos and was able to work out whenever I wanted, no matter the weather. I also rode my bike a couple of times and tried to run with my son (17, loves to run, much younger and more fit than I) and once my daughter rode her bike to keep me going. The night before the race I still hadn't made it the whole distance.
The day of the race was pretty chilly. I prefer that to sweating my guts out. I was determined that I would run the whole distance even if that meant I was shuffling along! I had invited two of my nieces to join me and one of them brought along her boyfriend.
I was pretty proud of us! I learned a great lesson that day...keep moving, don't stop, even if you're slow at it just keep moving your feet and heading toward the end goal. It's also helpful to have someone run with you. It makes it so much easier to keep going. One of my nieces ran with me all the way. She had to slow down to my pace but we got into a rhythm and kept at it. By the middle of the race I was feeling pretty good. I couldn't believe it! We talked the whole way and before I knew it, we were crossing the finish line.
I was one of 55 women running that day. Some older than me but most of the runners were younger than I . I was 49...just three days away from my 50th birthday. I tied for 15th in the women's category. I couldn't have been happier.
Thank you to all the great sponsors and especially to Women for Decency for putting this on!
 |
| Here are our times 35:25.7 |
 |
| Just beyond the finish line, hidden by these bushes were two punching bags. I loved pummeling them in honor of those struggling with pornography addiction. Proceeds from the race were awarded as scholarships to counseling for those affected by the harms of pornography. Great cause! Great run! |
My young supporters! I have an awesome extended family!
jessicasmithtv.com Here is the link to some great exercises I found that helped me prepare for the race. I love her indoor mile runs with weights! Many fun variations. Great exercise.
