Baseline 5k

oh man...it's over with!  I spent the majority of today stressing about having to run a 5k today for the CFE class.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but, when Mike emailed out the entire class schedule, today's listed workout was not the 5k baseline.  I was secretly hoping that was true - it was actually the first thing I asked Mike after I said hi.  He laughed and said, "the schedule is wrong - the run is on. you'll be fine."  I just laughed, I really need to get over myself. 

I had a slight moment of panic when he asked everyone about their paces/time.  The 3 guys were all in the 21m - 23m range, my heart sank knowing I was going to once again finish last.  Luckily for me though, Christina is running a 10k on Saturday, so she volunteered to run with me.  I was upfront with her and gave her my disclaimer of "I can't run the whole way yet, so I'm doing intervals 3m run/2m walk" - she still said that was fine.  It made such a huge difference to have someone with me, we talked the whole way and I was distracted from focusing on my normal run things - breathing heavy, running heavy, everything on me is jiggling, etc...  It actually felt good to do it today, I know my form is way off, because my knees hurt right now, but I really felt energized and good after it was done.  My time was 39:38, which for most people is probably shitty, but I was thrilled to be under 40m.  I was expecting to finish in 45m.  I can't even think of the last time that I ran 1 mile, much less 3.

Continuing on my feeling good, I went out after the workout to meet some friends who were in from out of town.  They had all met up earlier at a really fun/cool lounge, so I knew by the time I showed up, everyone would be well on their way.  One of the biggest things I struggle with when I go out/eating out is being disciplined.  The majority of the time when I got out, I leave good judgment/choices at home.  I did fine last night at the Cubs game and decided before I got there tonight that I wasn't going to drink and I'd find something healthy to eat.  I did both.  I drank a ton of water, because I was legit thirsty and I ordered deviled eggs and spiced nuts (these were the healthiest things - they didn't even have salad or veggies on the menu!).  I had a great time with my friends and didn't feel like I was missing out on any fun.