The 5 km Milestone

We did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We finally did it. 8 laps. 5 km.

There was something about that day. We could just smell it. It was today (yesterday) that we would finally achieve the goal we had set for ourselves months ago. Before we started running, we told each other that today was D day. We said it confidently, calmly, like it was a fact.

"Not only we CAN, but we MUST."

Exactly a month prior to this day, we had told each other that if we could run 5 km by August 1st, we would suscribe to the 5K run taking place at the end of September. It was July 27th. We were right on schedule.

Monday, we ran our usual 7 laps. Then Sonya pushed me for half a lap more. I told her she was crazy. I had been panting like an animal for the past 2 laps. The air was humid and I could feel the sweat rolling off me. I was not in my zone. But I did it. I followed her, not really hearing her encouragements, but gathering the general sense of them through her uplifted tone of voice. When we were done, I crashed on the grass like an agonizing horse.

"I'll give you 5 minutes for you to be happy.", Sonya said, downing what remained of her water.

So it felt good 2 days later to be back on track and feeling the excitement of a new distance to beat. What we call a "new standard".

We didn't keep track of time, not that day. Nothing was going to make this success taste like anything else than what it deserved to taste like. Distance was what we had in mind in the here and now.

We focused on our breathing, on running with a straight back, on pacing, on how good we felt, on how delightfully cool the temperature was.

On our 6th lap, we still felt good. It took us by surprise. The last 2 laps were always hard. We could still talk to each other. Not a whole convo but enough to encourage each other, make a sentence, give an answer.

"Our bodies are following us!!!", I told Sonya, thrilled at the idea that mind was now in charge.

7th lap. Not much harder than the 6th. I had one word on my mind: amazing. "Amazing" seemed to keep my legs moving. Amazing kept my focus away from my exhaustion. Amazing was what we were, what we had accomplished, what we were about to do. Amazing was the day's mantra. I kept repeating it to myself and pushed all other thoughts away. I was still moving! Amazing. Did I lock the door when I left home? Amazing. Move over, lady! Amazing. My hair hurts. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. It just took over everything

When we passed by the point marking 7 and a half laps our pace slightly increasing under the excitement, I told Sonya:

"Sonya, what we are doing now, you have never done before!"

"I knooooowwww!!!!", she said, reflecting to me the pride that was submerging my heart.

All I could hear was the sound of our shoes on the pavement. My eyes were filled with the green of tree tops. Breath was getting shorter. 200 meters to go.

"Sprint!!!!!"

My son at the finish line, two arms extended, ready to receive our victory touch. He almost staggered under the double impact and us, we were walking on clouds.

"We did it! It's DONE! We did it! Omigod! Can you believe it?!"

High tens. This was a high ten moment. So much better than high fives!!!

We shared our surprise at how easy it had been compared to previous times where we could barely breathe enough to finish 7 laps. Now breathing was comfortable and we could still talk!

But you know, this is something I have noticed through our training. You will stall at some points. And then, if you keep pushing yourself to the limit every time, eventually your body will kinda... "upgrade a notch" is the best way I can express it. It just gets stronger at some point and then it stalls for a week, two weeks, then you get a new upgrade. The key is to keep pushing. And yes there will be days when you will crash on the grass with your hands on your eyes like I did and think: "Man... Why can't I just DO it?!" and it's frustrating because you want to, desperately, but you physically can't. The truth is if you stick to your efforts, you WILL eventually do it.

Give time to yourself. Your body IS doing its part of the deal. It is changing and adapting to what you are putting it through. Be patient and perseverant. This is YOUR part of the deal.

So... 5 km!!!!!!!! Weeeeee!!!!!