A Look Back: My Very First Race

Happy Friday! In honor of it being a Friday and a Good one at that (pun intended), I thought I'd take a minute to look back at my very first race. In fact, I think I'll look back at a race each Friday until I have them all integrated from my other personal blog to this running blog. That should take a while!

When I was reading over my notes from my first race, I see how much I've changed. What was something that I just decided to do on a whim has becoming part of my daily life. It's amazing to see how I've transformed over the past almost 30 months since my first race. My race PR today is almost five minutes below my race time from this first race and my body, while always small, has definitely become more toned. My love for racing has only multiplied these last few years and I'm thankful each day that this running thing that I've done consistently since I was a young teen is something that I love even more today.

My Very First Real Race
The first real race I ever ran was a 5K that is a part of a local festival. (I say real race because I have run the Cooper River Bridge and a few other races, but those weren't done to see how I could do. They were more about doing them with other people.) My husband's best friend runs and was running this race and they both encouraged me to sign up for it.

At the time, I was running probably 3-4 days a week and 2-4 miles each time. I went to the gym for strength training regularly, but I didn't do speed work or really train for races. I just enjoyed running and did it.

I was really excited about this race. On race morning, we headed downtown to get my bib. It was freezing cold and I wasn't prepared for the weather with proper race gear, so I wore my shorts and a jacket over my t-shirt. It's funny to me to think back to that day now as I'm all dri-fit everything, light weight shoes and playlists. Such a contrast from not too long ago.

When the race started, I decided I'd stay with my husband's friend as best I could. I had no expectations about this race whatsoever and really didn't know what other people would be running. Surprisingly, I finished the race in 23:58. I was not only first in my age group, but fourth overall. I was so excited!

This race is what got me hooked on racing and really kicked my training up a notch. I loved the environment of racing and I really liked winning something. From that day forward, I've only gotten faster and I know that's attributed to my training. Since this first race, I've run and won countless other races including this one!


What was your first race like?