Tonight, I fully jogged my first 5K race, no walking.

I was on week 7 of c25k last October when I fractured my ankle. I fractured the same ankle in a different spot in February. The doctor gave me the clear to start jogging again at the beginning of May. My goal was to run a race that my cousin puts on called Friday Night Lights. That race was going to be July 20. Plenty of time to train I thought.

I restarted c25k, and it was more difficult than the first time because I hadn't done any exercise for three months. It would have been so easy for me to give up, say it wasn't worth it, say I was afraid of getting hurt again, I could have come up with a number of excuses, but I didn't. My training didn't go as well as I had hoped, and up until now, I've only jogged 20 consecutive minutes since being back.

Tonight, however, that all changed. Tonight was Friday Night Lights. I told myself I would jog the first mile, and then if I had to walk a bit, I would. I jogged the first mile and felt great. Ok, on to mile 2. Completed mile 2 and still felt good. At that point, I decided unless something drastic happend, I was going to jog the entire 5K. And jog I did! It was slow, 34:35, but I JOGGED!! No walking at all. I even sprinted the end of it, smiling the entire time. I met my goal. My dad, sister and other family members were there to cheer me on. And once I finished, I got to watch my mom enter the stadium, and I had enough energy to give her that final push and run the last bit with her as well.

I can't believe what a rush it was to jog the entire thing. I'm already looking forward to my next race!