Life List: I ran ... I ran so far away.

Yeah, I just made a Flock of Seagulls reference. What of it?

On Sunday, I ran my first-ever 5K — the Armadillo Dash!

Here I am pre-race with Matt, his sister and his dad. The Dash started at 7 a.m., and it was about 38 degrees outside when this picture was taken. Brrrr!

I realized about a mile into the race that I probably made a mistake in training at the gym. I'd only run outside one time, and was not used to running in that environment! Now I know if there's a next time. 

Other things I learned: 

1. Don't decide last minute to use your super old, bulky iPod mini just because it has a clip attached and your iPhone doesn't. The mini will fly off your pants randomly while running. You're better off without music.
2. You may be cold when you start running. Don't take an extra jacket. You will get too hot and then you'll have to carry it around the rest of the race.
3. Run with a friend. Friends keep you motivated. My future sister-in-law is a MUCH better runner than I am, but I kept up with her pretty well for about the first half mile or so (we never saw the first mile marker, so I don't really know how far it was). If not for that, I probably would have started power-walking even sooner, since my lungs weren't used to breathing that cold air while running.

I finished in just under 40 minutes, which I think is quite respectable for a first-time non-runner! The rest of Matt's family finished about 10 minutes earlier, but Matt came back to the finish line and ran along the sideline with me to the end! He's so sweet. :-D

And here we are post-race. Not so cold anymore. Let's get bagels!

What's your favorite '80s band?