I DID IT!!! I ran my first 5k on 9/26/09. Three days before Lily's first birthday/1 year after giving birth, I ran 3.1 miles. I had been doing some practice runs and was coming in around 38 minutes. My official time was 35:19 - I shaved off almost 3 minutes! It was crazy.

The day of the race Sarah, Emily, Amy, Franni and I decided to meet and pick up our packets, etc. We put on our numbers and warmed up with the very energetic lady from the fitness center. I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to be able to finish after spending so much energy on the warm up. We got in place and had a little pep talk. We all got our head phones in and music on (and I had my run keeper on so I knew how fast I was going and how much I had left). About a minute before the start all I could think was how bad of an idea this way and that I can't believe I signed up for this - I actually volunteered, no one is forcing me to run for the next 3 miles!

Then we started. I felt like I started at a pretty good pace but I was keeping up with Franni and I knew that she had been training faster than me. We passed a sign with a big 1 on it and I was shocked to figure out that we had already gone a mile! We had to run the loop two times so when we came by the first time the clock read 17 + minutes. So in my mind, I'm thinking I'm right on pace because 17 +17 =38. About a half a mile later I realized that 17 + 17 does not equal 38 it equals 34! I checked the run keeper program and sure enough I was definitely going faster than usual. I should mention as I went by the clock the first time, my mom, sean, josh and Lily were all there holding up signs and cheering me on! Even Lily had a sign that read "my mom is running her first 5k!" It was great!

So as we passed the 2 mile mark, Franni and I looked at each other and said "one more mile!" Coming around the last turn and knowing that the finish line was so close was so exciting! Both of us picked up our pace and crossed the finish line. Franni came in about 4 seconds before me. I was so excited and couldn't believe that it was 35 minutes! 

Emily, Amy, Sarah, Franni and I took some pictures for the organizers website because they liked our shirts and that we were running our first 5k at their event. We are hoping to be on their website but honestly I haven't looked. I should check that out!

Moral of the story - c25k works! You can ask Josh, I was not a runner - I hated it. But I was committed to this program and within 12 weeks I ran my first 5k in under 40minutes (that was my personal goal).