Meeting the Challenge

One of the best feelings in the world is setting a goal and meeting that goal. It can be something as small as finally organizing your closet or something big like sticking to a savings plan and having enough money to buy a house/retire. Goals are good because they help us to feel that we accomplished something and through accomplishment we get to feel alive.

As you may have read in my previous entry EA Sports Active Personal Trainer put forth their 5K challenge. They wanted people to set a goal of running/walking a 5K and they gave them a way to meet that goal with a suggested training plan. They even asked those if us in the community to step up and be Community Leaders for these groups. I saw this and realized, “Hey, there’s a challenge in this Challenge! I accept.”

So I put myself out there as a Community Leader, found a 5K and started soliciting everyone I know that owns EA Sports Active Personal Trainer to join the team. I scheduled weekly group runs and I trained. After a little research I found that the EA Sports Active training regimen incorporated elements of the Couch to 5K running plan so I downloaded a Couch to 5K app to my iPhone to assist me on run days.

The one thing that I am pleasantly surprised at is how the EA Sports Active suggested training schedule worked so well. After four weeks of training I found that I was able to run 5 killometers on my last training day before the event and that is something I hadn’t ever been able to do before. I’ve been in runs before (OK, a total of three) but I’ve always “wogged” the event, needing to walk a bit after every 1/4 mile. Even though it wasn’t the actual race day I can’t tell you how proud I was the moment I realized I was about to complete running those 3.2 miles. Accomplishing a goal feels great, accomplishing it ahead of schedule feels AMAZING!

First and foremost I want to thank each and every member of my team for not hating me. I chose the Rocky Rodge Trail 5K because the setting sounded like a nice outdoor setting and everyone would get a medal for finishing, a win-win right? Let’s just say I’m glad that I knew everyone on my team because that run was a HILL-acious up and down course jam packed full of challenge. Tiny rise after tiny rise got everyone warmed up for the near 3/4 of a mile ascent up this wall that they decided to call a road near the end of the race. With each step up that 400 ft. incline I just kept telling myself to just get to the turnaround point because it would (literally) be all down hill from there.

I also have to say that I surprised myself as well near the end of the race. After traversing back down the hill I realized that there was still one team member behind me. I realized early on in accepting this challenge that I was probably going to be one of the last people in. I didn’t like the feeling I had when I thought about it but I knew it was a very real possibility. Even when the race started and I watched most of my team get ahead of me I was OK with it. After that hill, however, I didn’t want anyone else on my team to be the last of our group over the line. Instead of running ahead I jogged backwards and waited for my final team member and ran with them in to finish the race. This even lead to a last minute dash where I took the finish line by a hair.

This was such a great experience I can’t wait for my next 5K. I’ve also learned a very valuable lesson: be sure to know what you are getting in to and watch for an elevation guide in the 5K promotional materials!

So speaking of the next 5K, anyone in the area interested in running the 17th Annual Walnut Creek Turkey Trot with me? It’s a flat run and you get a goodie bag at the end. Look at the stuff I got for this run! You can even incorporate this 5K into your new 6 week workout routine if you pick up EA Sports Active More Workouts on November 20th.