Welcome to the "The Jones Kingdom": The Race Is On!

I finally ran my first race. It was a little over 5 miles and I feel so accomplished.

Before the race!

Yeah...I know....I've packed on some weight since I've been in germany. Now that I have stopped taking the antibiotics that caused me to put on weight no matter how much I ran and exercised, I've finally began to see results in my weight too which I'm sure will help in future races. I wish I was told that extended use of antibiotics could cause weight gain. I feel like I'm starting all over in my quest to be fit. Grrrrrr. Fortunately I didn't give up my physical exercising and my endurance is still quite strong.

Although I've been running 2-4 miles on a regular basis I was a little nervous about this race. Besides the fact that it was my first official race....there were horrendous inclinces that prevented even experienced runners to opt out of participating. I predicted that it would take me about 1.25-1.5 hours assuming that the inclines would slow me down.

I started off good to my standards but I was being passed up person after person. Sure I felt a little insecure but I told myself that speed isn't as important as constistancy. I kept my pace consistant and continued to be passed up by kids and people that were a bit "chunkier" than myself. How's that for an motivator. But I didn't get discouraged and kept on trucking along.

Then the first, longest, and toughest incline began. I kept my pace and at about half way up the hill several people began to stop and walk the incline. I kept my pace and began to pass person after person. This first incline was the defining moment. After I made it up to flat ground only 1-2 people passed me for the remainder of the race.

At about 2.5 miles in I hit the "running high" for the first time ever. I wanted to stop and walk for a minute but my body and mind would let me. It really is the coolest and most refreshing feeling. The high remained for quite sometime and it felt so good that I would periodically smile and tell myself how awesome I feel. Before I knew it I saw the 4 mile marker. What? Are you kidding me? I'm usually dying right now! I felt amazing and increased my pace. The feeling stayed until about the last 1/2 mile when the shortest yet steepest incline hit. Holy Crap! I said to myself. This sucks. I felt the strength to finish hard and pushed hard to the finish line. I don't know my exact time yet but I know it was a little under an hour. Better than I predicted. As for my rank....I definitely wasn't with the leading group but I wasn't even near the end.

When I crossed the finish line I looked for my family. I couldn't wait to see them. After I didn't see them anywhere I called Joey. The stinky butts didn't expect me to finish so fast and had went home to surprise me with a clean house. It wasn't long before they showed up. It felt so good to see their proud faces. I may have influenced Joey to train to run the next one with me. I know Tristen is definitely in on the next.