40 by 40 #1: Run a 5K. (The whole time. No walking.)

To be honest, I'm not sure why I included this one. I have never liked running. And yet it called to me, like a siren, the idea of being able to run for 5 kilometers, without stopping to catch my breath. So I started training in January 2018. I did a Couch to 5K program, which got me ever so slowly up to running 3.1 miles without stopping. It took quite a while, but I did it. But this goal was meant to be met by running a race, and it turns out I didn't do a race for nearly a year.

Finally, in April 2019, I ran the Rex Lee Run, a race near and dear to my heart. Back in my college days, I worked as a secretary (THE secretary) for the Cancer Research Center. As such, I worked closely with the student-run Cancer Awareness Group, who was responsible for the race. I helped organize t-shirts, medals, race routes, registration...basically I wasn't in charge but had my fingers in a lot of pies. So it's been a race that I have continued to follow and participate in, even when I'm not a runner, and even when we have lived far away. I didn't really run, but I walked in the race multiple times. Even when we lived in St George, we often came up for the race. The specifics are fuzzy, but I know I've walked while pregnant (cause I couldn't figure out where to put the bib), and I know I've pushed a stroller (that could have been the same year...). Anyway, the point is, the Rex Lee Run and I have a history. So completing this goal by running this race was extra-special. They also changed the course, making it run right through the middle of campus, which brought back all the memories of running to class and studying on the quad. Basically, this race was full of nostalgia and victory, and that is a killer combination.

40 by 40 #1: Run a 5K. (The whole time. No walking.): 🗹