November 22, 2008 My First 5K Walk

Today the kids and I did a 5K walk to raise money for Christmas for the kids along the Gulf Coast whose families lost everything in Hurricane Ike. It was supposed to be a one mile walk, but I decided that was pretty lame, and that we'd do the 5K.
This morning dawned bright and...COLD!!!! It was about 25 when I got up at 8, and by the time we headed out to walk, it had only gone up to about 28 or so. Brrrrrr!!! Plus, my knee had been bothering me since yesterday, and actually kept feeling like it was giving out on me. NOT a good thing when you're planning a long walk. I decided if we got half way and were just too cold or my knee was to sore, we'd just do half the walk. But I really really really wanted to do the whole thing.
We bundled up in many, many layers. I had on: silk long johns (bottoms), an UnderArmour top, an undershirt, 2 pairs of socks, a turtleneck, my heaviest jeans, my heaviest hooded sweatshirt, sneakers, a wool scarf, an ear warmer headband, a pair of fur lined gloves, a pair of warm mittens, and my hooded ski parka. All I could think of was the kid in the movie "A Christmas Story"!! The kids were similarly bundled up. We each had Chapstick on our lips, and a water bottle in our pocket.
My daughter insisted on leading the pre-walk stretching, which consisted of touching our toes! I was actually able to do it, even with all the layers! We headed out at 11:20 am. It seemed to take forever to get down the first 1/2 mile, but as we rounded the next corner, it suddenly seemed easier. (which was wierd since now the wind was AGAINST us!) My knee went out a couple of times, but quickly recovered, so we kept going. Before we knew it, we were at the half way mark! I decided we would go the distance. Surprisingly, I really wasn't cold at all, except for my nose.
As we walked, we encountered a lone runner a couple of times going the other direction. My daughter wondered why anyone would be out running on such a cold day. I said, "well, WE are out walking!" She said, "yeah, but we have a reason". Ya gotta love the logic of kids!
Midway through our second lap, we saw a neighbor outside and stopped to ask him to take our picture. I had my cell phone with me, which actually takes a decent photo. We all look like the Michelin Man!

After the photo stop, we continued up the block into our last turn. We could see home! We were almost there! The kids broke into a jog, but quickly backed off to wait for Mom. We arrived back at home at 12:50 pm. So 90 minutes to do 3.1 miles, including stops for water breaks and a photo op. Not too shabby.
As I congratulated the kids on a job well done, I started thinking. A year ago we went to Disney. I spent the entire trip on an electic scooter thingy, becuase I could not walk through the parks. Now, just one year later, I've lost 95 pounds AND done my first 5K Walk!!! What a difference a year makes!
Now that I've done it, I want to do it again. Really! I had already been thinking about the Avon Breast Cancer walk next October. Now I know, I CAN do it! So I WILL do it! I wonder if I can talk the kids into coming along???