A few months ago, I posted about one of the ways that I have been trying to stay motivated to stay healthy is to participate in Nerd Themed 5ks. This weekend was the first one of the year and I was STOKED!!
Not only was Saturday, May 2nd Free Comic Book Day, it was also the day of my first 5k of the year. I have been looking forward to this since I bought my pass to all four of the runs hosted by Geek’d Out Running Club in January. There was just one problem, I have not been keeping up on training like I should. I had a bit of a disaster happen in February and it completely threw off the groove I had gotten into the months prior.
Nerd 5ks: May The Fourth Be With You 5k
The first 5k of the year was a “May the Fourth be with You 5k”… Yep… STAR WARS THEMED. It was supporting the Adoption Exchange (an awesome cause) and the volunteers and coordinators were awesome!
When I got to the 5k Saturday morning I was immediately excited and nervous. My only goal for this run was to beat my last time (5k in 54 minutes). If I beat it by even 1 minute I would be proud of myself. The race was 4 laps around a park and I knew that I would need the motivation to keep going. After a couple laps when I would start to feel bogged down and out of shape. I just had to keep saying to myself, ONE more lap, just ONE more lap.
People showed up dressed as Ewoks, Darth Vader, Training!Luke (complete with Yoda backpacks), and even Stormtroopers. I admired them for their commitment, but I was very happy to only be in a tank top and not a full on costume. I designed my tank to have an Emperial painted on the side, and was excited to show it off. The race had a green screen to get pictures taken and a local nerd convention had a booth to support the cause.
A photo posted by Anna Gailey (@nerdyalerty) on Apr 26, 2015 at 3:24pm PDT
The Race:
After fighting the urge to quit after the second lap and ignoring that voice in my head that was telling me I’d be basically doing another lap after the race to get to my grandparents so I could TECHNICALLY quit after the third lap, I finally finished (doing all 4 laps). Not only did I finish, but I knocked SIX MINUTES off my previous time. That was a LOT more than I was anticipating. A LOT.
I love doing these 5ks, I love the organizations that we’re running for, I love the event coordinators and I adore that I have a fun way to keep up on keeping in shape.
A photo posted by Anna Gailey (@nerdyalerty) on May 2, 2015 at 11:45am PDT
Next up:
The Potter Run | Benefiting: HopeKids. If you would like to join in the fun of these runs, Geek’d Out Running Club offers a virtual run for those not in the SLC area! If you do decide to join me, let me know!