My 1st 5km race
Clichéd as this sounds one of the highlights about blogging for me has got to be meeting amazing people who I honestly would have no chance of otherwise bumping into. High on this list is Tlhodi, one half of the FroChic blog & her good friend Masindi. We share a love of all things hair & after much tweeting we finally met one day (over a particularly unhealthy lunch) & got to talking about her other love, running. She’s a mom of 2 cuties & in amaaaazing shape – she’s such a great ad for running!
You know how it goes, you exchange details & well, we actually stayed in touch. They were kind enough invited me for a run one Sunday morning & I soon found out it was a race! The Dischem marathon took place out in Edenvale & we entered in the 5km category.
I realise any serious runner reading this is rolling their eyes right now but this was a milestone for me & suddenly gave me a goal to work towards. Truth be told I ran my 1st distance of 5km (ever!) just days before the race & if it wasn’t that I had this goal to work towards I may never have.
With Masindi (left) & Tlhodi (middle). Post race exhaustion is not a good look on me.
The race itself was great. Well organised with super helpful staff at every turn. I ran/walked/shuffled my way through & loved seeing moms & dads pushing prams through the streets too. My heart rate monitor usually in perfect order just refused to cooperate which was distracting as I kept trying to fix/readjust it but after a while I gave up & just kept going.
I finished in 40 minutes & I have no real gauge of whether that’s good or bad, all I know is that I’ve now run my 1st race & that that’s the target to beat next time. Thanks for inviting me ladies – really enjoyed it & hope this is the start of many more…
W
Congrats! Ran my first 10km last year at Run Jozi and loved the sense of achievement, especially being a beginner runner. Well done!
Hey Meruschka! Run Jozi is definitely the goal by the end of the year. My aim is to run all the way (not walk as much as I do now). I can imagine it must have been amazing! I’m so inspired by other beginners stories, ta for sharing, makes it all feel doable…
Congrats on your race – I remember doing my first 5km race, it was such a sense of accomplishment!