My first 5K & 10 k.

Running 3 miles can be nothing to you some folks, yes, I am talking about you… You know who you are. but let me assure you that someone who never ran more than two miles, it was a big deal. So I trained…. On a treadmill… in an air conditioned spectrum club.

When run day came along, the Triclub recommended wearing the club clothing. And you know I am all about team spirit. My top was one size too big, but nothing two safety pins could not fix. So I stood on the line for my first 5 K with my LA Triclub shirt pinned down and what seemed like an entire bottle of sunblock on my face …. I was ready.

May 4, 2008

5 K: After the gun went off, I was running with good speed… After about five minutes I realize that my knees were hurting and the cement felt totally different than the treadmill. The beautiful Sunday morning ceased to be beautiful. The lung and every bone in my body was hurting. I wanted to stop. But nobody was stopping and worse, pretty soon, every body was passing me…. young, old and a little 11 year old boy were passing me. I wanted to turn around to look who was behind. But I was afraid to find out that I might be the last one… So I did what any decent human being would do in an LA Triclub outfit. Keep running. And it relieved me to no end to find out that I wasn’t quite the last, but was in the thirties percentile people who raced that day. To my surprise, and delight, I quickly signed up for my next 10 k in the Palisades, ready to be on the road to becoming a triathlete.

July 4, 2008

10K: Taking my lesson from the first run… this time I trained on the streets. Yes, I am a newbie, but that doesn’t mean I cannot learn! Three times a week on ocean blvd, which is flat, in Santa Monica, I ran. When the Fourth of July came, I was anxious. “Mind over body” only got me the last hilly fourth and fifth mile. I tried to remember Jaime Silber saying “finish strong”, but the only part of that I could follow was just “finish”. And that I did. In 54 minutes and plus. There were lots of people around me, but I could not recognize a single person. I was in a daze. That was when I saw a bunch of people from LA Triclub behind the auditorium. There were some familiar faces from the previous night’s meeting in Play Del Rey. It was nice to see them.

So I signed up for Pumpkinman triathlon in Las Vegas. You bet I will be there with my safety pins and hopefully, a smaller top. Never mind that I have never swum other than a pool and still don’t own a bike yet. If three months could make me a 10 k runner, next three months can start me off swimming and biking too. So I am hooked and I will be the part of #1 Club in nation when we finish our business in LV.

Looking forward to seeing you all on October 18, 2008, yes, swimming, biking and running before getting down to some serious playing in Las Vegas.

Cheers!

Susan “Sook” Moon