My First Race

I've been running for about 4 years now, but I mostly run for fun, it helps me with stress. When I was in Japan I used to run only when it was warm outside, didn't really go to the gym. Since I moved to Illinois running became more frequent, and I loved our campus gym. So, snowy winters didn't stop me from running indoor on track. However, when it came to signing up for races, I kept going back and forth, but finally I did it! :D

Today I ran my first race - Historic Hillsborough Half Marathon and Fleet Feet Five K. I ran 5K many times before, so I thought it won't be a big deal. But since moving to Raleigh I couldn't run outside as much for the terrible heat, and wasn't active as much for last couple of weeks for flu. Also, it was very flat in Illinois, but this race area was very hilly (of course it makes sense because it's Hillsborough!), for which I wasn't well prepared, and felt terrible when I had to stop to breathe. Anyway, I thought I was pretty slow and one of the last to finish, but was glad that I almost made it among the first half finishers :)

Overall it was a good experience and a good start. Now I know how it feels to run with hundreds of people, often for a cause, and can train myself for longer runs. Weirdly enough, North Carolina doesn't have many 10K races. Most of them have two options 5K or half marathon, which is a pretty big jump. I really wish I could do a 10K in between, but I think I'll start to train myself for a half marathon soon. 

The race t-shirt and the medal were pretty rad! Did they know that I love mustard color?! I think I'll be wearing this t-shirt a lot! :D

Race Goodies