Last year, when Ron's annual office 5K came around in August, I decided that we were going to participate rather than just donate to the cause. Without any preparation we got up on Saturday morning, took our double stroller and our two kids and went downtown for the walk. It was only 3.1 miles, a breeze, I thought. Well, I was wrong! It was tough, and I was not even pushing the stroller! We finished close to last and were very tired!
This year, Ron is involved with Central Ohio Men Against Prostate Cancer and as their fund raising director decided to host an inaugural 5K to raise money. I decided to run in the event, but also decided to train this year. I started a couch to 5K type program and got to the point that I was running between 2-3 minutes and walking 7-8 minutes when I developed shin splints. I didn't know that they were shin splints, but they felt like my shin was cracked. I tried to run through them, but it did not work. I just decided to give up running and continued walking three times a week.
The most noticeable difference was that this year, the 5Ks were not as difficult. In the Bull Run I walked the whole race in about 50 minutes and did not feel like I needed to rest and could go on with my day. In the Race for a Pro-State of Mind, I finished in about an hour while pulling a wagon with my daughter in it and encouraging my son to finish walking. I felt good about finishing both races and was very proud of my son for walking a 5K at seven years of age and my husband, who ran a wonderful race and finished with a personal best time for this year.
