I Crossed The Finish Line Last.....

……..BUT I DIDN’T GIVE A DAMN HAHAHAAAA!!!! This just goes to show me that if I can do this, then I can do ANYTHING!!! Yesterday’s event was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. As you may have read in my previous post (My First 5K!!), I have been training to do my very first 5K race for the past 3 ½ months.

It all started with me wanting to be more active, lose weight, and get healthy (which I've done before but never really committed to it until now), so I figured since I was using walking as a way to do and start all that, then might as well enter a 5K and have it as a goal to meet.

Well……let me tell you…….3.1 miles is a long ass way to go, especially when you’re as slow as me haha!! Each week that I was training for the 5K, I would add a little distance to it. I really wasn’t paying too much attention to the time I was doing it in, but more on distance because, to me, that’s what mattered the most. I didn’t really care about the time because time isn’t what was going to challenge my body. The distance is what was going to challenge my body. So a few weeks before the 5K, I had already been up to 2 miles per walk and was slowly crawling up to 2.5 miles. The last week before the 5K I had set out to complete 2 three-mile walks therefore preparing me for the 5K.

The Wednesday and Friday before the 5K I was able to do 3 miles and I was beyond excited and thrilled. I knew all I had to do was rest my legs all day Saturday and get ready for Sunday’s event!! Well…….at least I tried to haha!! Saturday night I only ended up sleeping two hours because I ended up staying up catching up with my friend Ricky who went with me to take photos of the event. I hadn’t seen Ricky in years but kept in contact with him through facebook and when he offered to go with me to take photos, I was so grateful and took him up on his offer.

The 5K had to be in LA because the one I originally wanted to sign up for in San Diego (since I live in Oceanside and it’s the closest) was full. So my next best option was to do the one in L.A. I really didn’t mind since it wasn’t much of a drive and I could also stop by there and see my precious nephew/Godson along with my brother and his fiancé. So it was a two for one deal for me!!

Ricky and I had to get up at 4am Sunday morning to get ready and hit the road at 5am. The last time I was up that early was probably a year ago when I was still awake from the night before haha!! One quick stop at the gas station and we were off!! Usually when I sit in my car seat for a long period of time, my back begins to hurt a little. It took about 2 hours (because we got lost haha!!) to get there and even though I popped in an Ibuprofen, it didn’t really stop the pain. I was getting really nervous and excited when I got there and got my sign to pin on my shirt. My friend Ricky kept joking with me telling me to stop looking mad but I was just nervous by the time 7:45am came because it was going to begin at 8am. I didn’t know why I was nervous. I just was haha!!

The 5K was being held by Weight Watchers and presented by USA Marathon Training which is a sports team located in Los Angeles. Most of the Weight Watcher members were there with their shirts that you receive in the mail when signing up for the 5K but since I had signed up late, I hadn’t received mine yet. Each shirt was personalized with their own words and if I had gotten mine, it would have read “To Be A Runner One Day!!” I’ll get in the mail soon though :o)

After a quick warm up with Coach Pat Connelly, everybody was ready to go and off we went!! It was held at Griffith Park right next to the L.A. zoo. The settings and trails were very beautiful and some of it was very scenic so it was an all around pleasure to walk there. I had heard someone say that there were about 500 people but I can’t be too sure about that. I had my earphones on to listen to music and had my Walkmeter application running on my iphone to notify me of the distance and time. Within half a mile, I could feel my back begin to bother me. And within a mile, it was downright painful. But I kept on and pushing through the pain. On top of that, my right thigh muscle felt like it was going to fall off but no matter what, I didn’t want to stop. I had slowed down significantly because of my back and thigh and slowly watched almost everyone pass in front of me. I wasn’t the last one, but I was definitely slowing down enough to be.

By the time I reached 2.5 miles, I kept stopping every few minutes to stretch my back. Two ladies that were the last people behind me stopped to check to see if I was Ok. I said I was fine and just needed to stretch my back and they kindly stretched with me. That moment made my heart smile. After we finished stretching, we walked together and as we got closer, we stopped to stretch one more time but this time two volunteers came up to us to see if we were Ok. We told them we were fine and just stretching our backs. They were so kind and encouraging and even showed us other ways to stretch that completely made my back feel so much better. As we kept on walking, we could see the finish line and the volunteers were there encouraging us to finish. I started to slow down again and as the two ladies went ahead of me, I knew I was going to be the last one but I didn’t care. I saw a group of people standing at the finish line and Coach Pat Connelly ready to shake my hand.

As I reached Coach Connelly, I shook his hand with my right hand, and covered my face with my left hand because I could feel tears starting to come out of my eyes. Hearing everyone cheering and yelling for me as I completed that 5K took such an emotional toll on me that I started to cry and felt so overwhelmed by everyone’s support. After I shook Coach Connelly’s hand, a total stranger and fellow 5K member named Yvonne came up to me and gave me the most welcoming warmest hug I’ve ever felt. I buried my face in her shoulder and just cried and cried and cried while she and everyone standing around congratulated and cheered me on. And the cherry on top of it all was that my friend Ricky captured everything in photos. Not only was I happy for him doing that for me, but I was just happy that he was there. He has been one of my biggest supporters since starting this and I’m lucky to have him as a friend. I can’t wait to get the photos from him and share them with all of you.

I don’t think there are enough words in the entire international dictionary that could describe the feeling I felt crossing that finish line. But I do know this…….the day I die, the day I take one last breath, and the day my heart beats for one more time, I know I will live a little longer because I will think of that moment one last time. All I will have to do is think of that moment when I crossed the finish line to my very first 5K and I will breath a little longer, my heart beat will beat a little faster, and I will smile a little wider because what I did that day was truly to better myself.

And until that day come, I will forever be grateful for all of the support I’ve had from family, friends, and complete strangers. I could not have done any of it without you. My next one will be on July 4th and I can't wait to do it!! So I encourage anyone who can barely walk for 10 minutes without getting back pain or leg pain, or even getting winded, to start by taking it a little step at a time. A little every day goes a long way. Thank you for reading.

My First 5K!!

As some of you may know, I started training for a 5K walk a couple of months ago. I had always heard about these type of challenges from friends and co-workers [Hi Lauri :o)] but was never really interested in them because I knew I could never physically do one. That is until I made a change earlier this year.

Throughout my entire life I’ve battled with my weight. I’m not going to get too into it because 1) Not ready to go there. And 2) That’s not what this blog is about. However, my weight is what has been holding me back from being active. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always dreamed about being active but never was. I used to always say to myself (and still do): I wish I could be a runner, I wish I could be a surfer, I wish I could be a cyclist, I wish I could….., etc.

So earlier this year when I went to go sit at the beach, close to where I work, I sat there and pondered about all the people I saw jogging, walking, cycling, and surfing. I wondered about how long they’ve done it and if I could actually picture myself doing what they’re doing. I saw the steady stance of the jogger, the easy pace of the walker, the fast speed of the cyclist, and the surfer riding that sweet wave. I thought to myself: “How long would it take for me to be fit enough to do all that?” I knew that I couldn’t jog, I couldn’t be a cyclist, and I for sure didn’t know how to surf. But the one thing I can do is walk. After all, that’s how two of my sisters got in shape…………..by walking.

The day was Wednesday January 26, 2011 when I started out on my first walk that was going to lead to me getting fit. Now, I’ve started many walks before but have never been consistent as I am now. Usually when I start walking, I only last up to two weeks and then I quit. But this time, I didn’t want to quit. This time, I wanted to keep going. This time, I wanted to become that walker, that jogger, that cyclist, that surfer, and all other sports I can get into. And I haven’t stopped since!!

I remember that first walk. I had set out a routine at Tamarack Beach right across from where I work in Carlsbad so it could be convenient for me. I wasn’t sure how far I was going to go, but I set my clock to sound off in 10 minutes so that the moment I walked 10 minutes away from my car where I had parked, I could return back and complete 20 minutes of walking time total. I was coming from no exercise in months so I knew I had to start slow. It was incredibly painful. My lower back was killing me within five minutes of starting, my thigh muscles were burning from the sudden movement, and I was panting like a tired dog. The trail has a slight incline on the walk back to my car and I would often stop in the middle of it to catch my breath. I didn’t think going any further was possible. At that moment I pretty much kissed jogging, cycling, surfing, and all the other sports goodbye. I didn’t measure it but I’m pretty sure it was only ¼ of a mile. I couldn’t believe how out of shape I was. But I didn’t give up. The next day I went again for another 10 minutes away from my car. I had made it a priority no matter what and ended up doing it 5 to 6 times a week. As it got easier, I would add a minute to my time. By the third week I was walking 14 minutes away from my car.

I was really beginning to wonder what distances I was walking so I downloaded an application on my iphone that measures distance, time, calories, etc. The first time I used it was on February 8, 2011 where it measured I had walked 0.8 miles. As of yesterday, I can walk 2 miles. The application is allowing me to see my progress from start to finish and shows other statistics that I can compare to the very beginning.

When I first heard about a 5K being held on the third week of May in San Diego, I didn’t really think too much of it. I was only in my 7th week of walking and I didn’t think I could do it. But then I realized that this would be a perfect opportunity for me to have a goal. The only goal I’ve had was to just walk and I already was doing that. So I signed up!!!!

Since I had been doing all this walking, I decided to give my neighborhood another try a couple of weeks ago. When I first moved in, I really liked the area because there is a long walking trail along the way with two stop signs, a traffic light, another stop sign and one more traffic light that equals to about 1.2 miles one way. My first goal was to make it to the first stop sign, but because of the incline of the hill, I didn’t even reach it. I said “forget it” and didn’t go again until a couple of weeks ago. I had been doing all of my walking at the beach where the incline is there but not as steep as the ones in my neighborhood. Those hills makes my walks feel more like hiking. So, feeling like I could reach the first stop sign, I grabbed my walking shoes and headed out for it. Not only did I pass the first stop sign, I passed the second stop sign, and reached the first traffic light!!!! You cannot imagine the unbelievable feeling that came over me!!!! All those images of other activity sports came back at me like I can and will do it one day!!

I couldn’t believe the improvement I’ve made. And now that I’ve had this momentum going, it’s hard to even stop. I’ve realized that I’m in that state of mind now where I’ll think “Tomorrow I won’t have time to workout after work, so I better get up an hour early to do it.” And I love that about me right now!! I love that because it makes me realize that no matter how busy I get with work and returning back to school in the fall to study for my credential, I know I’m going to make my health my priority from now on!! Despite going through things in life that can stop you or end your motivation, like what I wrote about in this blog: Ever Tried Falling Asleep With a Broken Heart?, I found the strength in me to not give this up. It is too damn good.

And Although I’ve only reached two miles in one walk, for me it’s a lot. Coming from being completely inactive to walking 5 to 6 times a week is definitely an accomplishment. Two miles may be nothing for a healthy fit person, but it helped me lose 20 pounds and it’s the beginning to a more fit and active me. With the 5K coming up I’ve definitely kicked up my walks with adding a little running to them but I know my body won’t let me do that just yet so I have to take running slow. And after I complete this first 5K, I hope to complete many many many more!! I even dream of doing the NY marathon one day. I don't care how long or how slow it takes for me to get there. I'll get there. One day, I’ll be the runner I’ve always wanted to be. One day, I’ll be the active person I’ve always dreamed of being. And one day, I’ll be able to say that I do yoga, pilates, boxing, surfing, canoeing, kayaking, cycling, running, hiking, etc. Just add a little at a time. Thanks for reading :o)

Jessenia :o)