Dirty Girls Run

Picture taken by Ellie's husband

I love it when two of my worlds collide, like they did this Saturday. The two gals with me are scrap buddies. Once a month, about 12-14 women meet to scrap and chat. But on this Saturday, three of us came together to do run, jump, walk and grunt through a 5K mud run.  And of course, being the scrapbookers that we are, we took tons of pictures.

Now if you are new to running or maybe you are doing the Couch25K plan and still within the first weeks of it, you may be hesitant about registering for a 5K.  Don't be.  As a matter of fact, I am going to tell you to get over yourself and I mean it.  Get...over....yourself because you are the only thing holding you back. You see, Monica, the girl with the glasses, has never run a 5K. She has never done a training plan or tracked her pace or joined a running group.  She saw this 5K as a way to have fun with some friends and so she signed up for the joy of it.  Let's face it, if you aren't training to place at the top and earn a trophy, then I hope you are training and yes, running these races for the joy of it.

Did she run the whole course? Nope. Did she have a certain time she wanted to beat? Nope. Was it hard? Yup.  But she has earned the bragging rights to say she has completed a 5K.  She did amazing and never quit.  She got a stitch on her side within the first quarter mile but she stretched it out.  She could feel her calves cramping so she stopped and stretched them.  But she never gave up. She listened to her body and responded to it.  She did the obstacles she could and skipped the obstacles she couldn't.  (As did I)  Ellie and I stayed with her and encouraged her when she needed it.  (Well I must say Ellie was amazing. She always kept an eye on both of us. She can run circles around both Monica and I but she chose to stay with us...more on her in a later post). Monica did her best and I believe when it was all said and done, she realized that she was able to go farther and do more than she ever thought she could.  As a matter of fact...she's looking for her next 5K.  That's right people, this girl gots game!

So you see, you shouldn't over think your first 5K. If you keep asking yourself  "What if..." you will never get out there and miss so many opportunities to see how great you are.  Heck, sign up for a 5K mud run obstacle course, if you are really worried about not being able to run the whole thing.  In a run like this, you are guaranteed to have to take mandatory breaks while you wait your turn to do the next obstacle.

Remember what John Bingham says, "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start."  Are you ready? Do you have the courage?