July 21, 2012 was the last time I ran in a race, in fact, ran at all (a real run). My BLAZING speed of 29 minutes. Haha, blazing compared to today.

Today, December, 8, 2013, I ran again, in a race, real running. The Iron Girl 5K. It was good and bad all at the same time. It was good because I was running (sort of). No, but really, it was good because I was running which I haven’t been able to do in nearly a year and a half. Wow, I can’t believe that much time has passed. I can’t believe it’s been THAT long. It was good because though I’m far from 100%, I was still able to sort of run with much less pain than before. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. Many months ago, even worse. A year ago, it was just bad. It was good because I actually completed the 5K with mostly running and a few bouts of walking. No, I didn’t actually train for the 5K. I’ve only been going to PT to fix my knee and strengthen my legs. But I hadn’t really run for more than maybe the length of a basketball court or two without stopping. So taking on a 5K was a bit of a stretch. My plan was to try to run with Shayna and if I couldn’t handle it, just walk/run it.

Running for me was comprised of 4 parts: lungs, muscles, pain tolerance, and mental strength. I realized very quickly that my muscles that I had previously developed were gone and I was tired very quickly into the run. I think we ran for about 12-13 minutes straight right from the start. I was actually surprised I lasted that long. It was probably because Monica ran with me and pushed me along. I could feel that I was still heavily relying on my right leg even though I was trying not to. My right calf and foot were getting so tired. My legs were just tired. My muscles were tired from not having been used for running in so long. My lungs were moderate. I’ve been playing basketball here and there so it was okay. I only had to stop a few times due to being out of breath but really it was my legs (the right one) that kept being tired and my right foot kept going numb for some reason. It was a weird feeling. My left knee still hurt along the way. I was trying to run more on it so that my gait could be more evened out and I wouldn’t rely so much on my right leg. However, pain + a mixture of habit took over and I still didn’t run that much on the left leg. In fact, on the downhill turning into the race track just pass mile 2, I felt two really sharp pains in my knee. It hurt quite a bit. The kind where I needed to stop immediately. We ended up walking the rest of the way down the hill. My mental strength is weak. But perhaps it was a mix of physical pains and weakness that were messing with my head thinking I had to keep stopping or wondering whether it was good idea or not to be doing this running thing with no preparation. I was thankful that Monica ran by my side the whole time and encouraged me all the way to the finish. While we ran, I kept telling myself that 5K was short. 5K was short. C’mon, I ran 13 miles one time in my life so 5K is short. Haha. We’ll be finished in no time!

It was good because it was nice to be running in a race again. It was good because it was fun to run with all my friends and seeing everyone accomplish something. It was good to have Jasen and Lin cheering for us. It was good because it gives me hope. My time was 37:02 which was suprising because I was really aiming for about 45 minutes. 😛

What’s next? Well, I really need to keep PTing my leg back to 100%. It’s still far from it. I need it to be stronger. I need to try to fix my gait so I can run like normal and not break the other leg.

It was good, it was bad. I feel accomplished.

SUCCESS!