Final Countdown!

Today marks 1 week before my first 5K! Eeeks!

I'm excited and nervous, but mostly just looking forward to the experience.

So today I went out for my usual Saturday morning long walk/run at the Rillito... did the whole 3.1+ miles, did it a decent time, but it still kinda sucked. LOL!

See, I started later than I'm used to - usually I'm up and out of the house around 8:30... even with it still being toasty here in Tucson, the temp is usually pretty reasonable around that time. This morning, I took the hubby to the airport (::sniff::) and got to the park around 9:30, and got hit with a blast of hot air.

Holy Macaroni it was already over 80! By the time I got home, it was 88!

And I only brought one bottle of water with me.

::face palm::

Either way, I trudged through, focusing on the desert creatures scurrying along my path, and even stopping to give a wayward pup a drink of water & skritches. All that aside, I still finished in around 45 minutes. The up/downside is that, because of the heat, my heart rate shot up really fast and stayed up for most of the run (usually I average around 158-163 for when I'm running... today it was 165-170). This was the first time I actually doused my head & back a couple of times during the workout to keep my body temp down.

::flop::

The funny thing is, during part of the trail, my mind kept drifting to, "WHY am I doing this again?!? Oh yeah, to make my body work a little better and to be a better person overall."

That darn WHY keeps poppin' up! LOL!

Anywho, I'm feeling better in general about the upcoming 5K - since finding out that it's going to be on a trail rather than a track, I was extra happy I'd been going to the Rillito River Walk - it has every surface from super duper loose sand to pavement. From that I've learned that loose sand is awesome for the joints and cushioning the landing, it totally stinks for speed. Pavement on the other hand is awesome for speed... but I feel every step, no matter how good my form is.

But because I've been working on all those surfaces at least once a week for the past month, I'm feeling prepared for whatever the race trail has to throw at me. I'm not going for a super duper fast time, but my goal is to #1 - finish and #2 - finish in under 50 minutes.

I know, not setting any land/speed records, but for me, it IS going to be a personal best. AND I'm doing it for a good cause - not only my own health and fitness level, but also an opportunity to raise money for the American Heart Association (In case you missed it the first billion times you can donate here: www.firstgiving.com/stephanieflagghanley

Not only am I doing my part to keep heart disease off the list of things to do for my future, I'm also working to keep other people from developing this highly preventable disease.