Don't Call It a Comeback...

I ran in my first 5K Race today since I broke my ankle in October. It was so cold, windy and hilly but I did it! I was slower than I used to be, chubbier than I used to be (well not chubbier than two years ago, but chubbier nonetheless) but I did it. And I got by with a little help from my friends.

Fun with friends. It was SO cold and windy!

I have a great group of running friends who live in tri-cities area where I live and a lot of them ran the same race today. Some are super fast and some are more my speed. When I started back to running about three weeks ago, I could only go for about 10-15 minutes on the treadmill and then I'd have to walk. Not just because of my ankle but because I had gotten sorely out of shape during my recovery. My eating muscles and elbow muscles (from wine drinking) were in perfect shape, but my ass, not so much. Or my thighs, or my...well...you get it.

This race today was to benefit the Elburn, IL Public Library and along the whole course were quotes from Fairy Tales. This was the first sign I saw and I thought, how poignant that is is my first race back after a broken ankle!

I finally worked up the courage to run outside and I called some of my local running friends to join me. It was a disaster. They took off and I was wheezing down the path doing my walk/run/walk/run bit just trying to make it a couple of miles. They weren't being mean or insensitive, I told them to go at the own pace and we'd meet up somewhere, etc. But watching their brightly colored jackets way, way off in the distance really got in my head. I couldn't even keep up with them when I was in great shape, but for some reason, this just really stung. One of my friends from this group, Sue, is a slower runner and promised to run with me again the next day. Just me and her so I could get my head back in the game. So I met her early the next day and we did 3.25 miles at a really nice, slow pace that suited me just fine. We talked about diet and exercise, the mind-f*ck that running can be and I finally felt like I could get back in shape. It was feeling pretty devastatingly hopeless before that. After our run, Sue sent me this email:

The story of that 5K is here. I had completely forgotten about it until Sue reminded me. It was also the beginning of my weight loss journey on Fat Chef on Food Network. I felt so good after remembering how far I've come, how big this broken ankle setback was and the fact that I am actually running so much sooner than I ever thought. So good that Sue talked me into signing up for this 5K today. And I did it. Slowly, but faster than I have run in a long time and dammit, I'm proud. I ran with Sue and her friend Susan for a while but then went ahead on my own. Susan has a bad knee and Sue had just done a muddy 10K the day before and was feeling it. She also didn't want to leave her friend, which is awesome. So I just went. I finished only a minute or so before them and I was debating the whole time whether I should go back and finish with them. Sue has been there for me through a lot of fitness craziness and I wanted to cross that finish line with her. At the same time, I felt like I needed to finish this alone so that I knew I could actually do it.

My buddy Sue. I would not have done this race today if not for her. It's hard not to believe in yourself when you have such a great support system who believes in you.  I can't tell you what this lady means to me. 

I had some great encouragement along the way with two of my other running friends, Pat and Carolyn, and then a whole cheering section of a big group of runner-friends from my area. All in all, it was great and I finished in under 42 minutes. It's a start. It's hard to see photos of myself 20 pounds heavier than I used to be at my fittest, but I'm working on it. Just like I'm working on running. Slowly, but surely.