CHECK. IT. OUT.
Right there – middle of the page.
Kelly O'Brien. 5km distance. Previous race time of 34mins 38 seconds. This race: 29mins, and 29 seconds.
Ladies and gentlemen that is 5km in under 30mins!! Goal achieved!
I can't explain what that time means to me. It's one of those goals that you never actually believe you can achieve, it's just a crazy idea that you have and hope that one day you'll cross off the list. And on this particular day, I crossed that goal off! Wahoo!
I haven't been training much in my running funnily enough, which I would have previously thought was necessary to achieve the time. Instead I've been doing a lot more work in the gym on my strength and core, and my trainer had given me some tips on my posture. I had found that when I'd been running in the past I would get home and my lower back would be quite sore, turns out I was running with a huge arch in my back. I needed to focus on pulling my hips forward, lean forward a bit more and booyah, no pain after my run.
On this particular day it was one of our 5km runs for the 12 Week Challenge at the gym. I actually hadn't run since my last one, and so I didn't have any high hopes. My only goal was to beat my old time, and I would be happy with that. I started off running, I had music playing, and tried to remain comfortable.
It was a horrible, horrible run. I felt lethargic, and I even walked three times. Each time I only gave myself a 10 second walking break, then pushed on. When I neared the end I looked at my watch and saw it tick over to 29mins, and thought “just push hard!” I didn't want a repeat of the International Women's Day fun run, where I finished in 30mins and 9 seconds.
When I finished, I thought I hadn't done it. I was disappointed. Then the girl with the timer said “29mins and 29 seconds”. I started her when I immediately yelled:
ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!
Then I promptly got excited and asked to take a photo. Once I explained it was for my blog, and that it was a lifelone dream, they all gave me high 5's and we cheered together.
Crossing this one off the list has made me feel empowered. The rest of this list is toast!
For more information on my 52 in 52 list, click here.