Alexis Senge JohnsonToday was the day ladies and gentlemen. Oh yes, we got up at 4:15 AM and prepared for the trek that was ahead. “What trek?” you might be asking. Well, as I mentioned in a blog post late last year, Matt and I agreed to take on our first 5K together and this morning was an amazing experience. It was on my 25st birthday that I ran my very first 5K after losing a bet. I ran it alone and although it was an interesting first experience I wasn’t motivated to do another one any time soon. Until now!
We rolled out of bed at an unnatural hour, but managed to pull it together and get to Disney in time for the Family Fiesta 5K. It was barely 40 degrees, which isn’t exactly something that my Fibromyalgia agrees with, but we toughed it out with 7,998 other people who were waiting to step up to the starting line. The music was blasting, the DJ was cracking jokes and I was excited to get going. Team “D.W.A.R.F.F. Awareness” sure lived up to their name (Dancing, Walking and Running For Fibromyalgia Awareness).
When we first talked about the 5K I told Matt I wanted to beat my run time from 2008 of 42 minutes. He agreed it would be possible and has been training with me to ensure that it happened. This morning I managed to run each mile in about 13 minutes and did squash my last run time! When I proposed this idea it was to get my head back into the game and remind myself that I’m can still do things. My diagnosis of Fibro was one that made me smile as I finally knew what was going on, but being an active person it made me feel as if I was losing myself. This morning was a reminder that I’m still me deep down inside. Although the recovery time is a little longer now then it used to be, I still had it in me.
In purple from head to toe for my support of Fibro, Matt and I crossed the finish line hand-in-hand smiling the whole way. It’s just 6 weeks from now that we’ll be facing the Disney Princess Half Marathon and this Sunday we start pushing our training so I’ll be able to get through that. I have no race time goal for the next run as just completing it is one of the biggest accomplishments in my world. The next six weeks will be tough, but I’m excited and ready for the challenge!
Congratulations to you and your perseverance! It’s not easy accepting limitations. As a type A , perfectionist, multi-tasking , sleep deprived, widowed Momma of 3 daughters for a lot of years, keeping up with my responsibilities & copious amounts of grief brought me to a diagnosis of fibro 20 years ago! Deciding to revive instead of merely surviving, launched me onto a quest to find out what I needed to get past the pain and on to living healthy.
Elaine, it sounds like we both have the same drive and personality. I’m glad that you to went through a quest to find out what you needed to live healthy. I started my quest after my diagnosis last May, but got slightly sidetracked by a bit of depression and that is when I committed to make it through this morning’s 5K and the upcoming half marathon. It’s just a little reminder to myself that I can still tackle challenges if I adapt to how I now know I must handle them. I will probably never run a 9 minute mile, but I can still moderately and haven’t lost my drive that comes from deep within. Thanks for stopping by and checking out the blog!
so so so so proud of you!!!!!
Thank you Janeth!
[…] a little behind on my update, but just a little over 2 weeks ago team “D.W.A.R.F.F. Awareness” participated in the Expedition Everest Challenge at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. […]