I did it. I ran my first 5k! Alright I confess, I walked most of the way. Well, walked and climbed, dove, jumped, swam, balanced, and slid that is. It was as ridiculous as I expected, but more fun than I imagined!

I recruited my friend Brittani more than a month ago to do this crazy obstacle course race with me. She’s awesome and can run for days (she’s training for a half-marathon!) but promised not to leave me in the dust during the run. Thankfully she didn’t cause my legs were already shaking after running through the first obstacle.

As I’ve mentioned before, I hate running. I prefer to reserve that kind of exertion for life or death situations. But I’ve sorta taken it up as a challenge, and a way to get some time to myself.

5ks don’t typically excite me but when I saw this one gave me the chance to pretend I’m a ninja warrior on Wipe Out, I signed up.

It’s funny how before the event, I imagined myself nailing each obstacle like a champ. Then the outcome just didn’t quite… Yea, it didn’t happen.

My favorite obstacle was probably the wrecking ball, and yes, it knocked me in. But I did make it about halfway across, maybe a little more.

I went face first down the world’s largest inflatable water slide. After climbing to the top the guy at the top said “on your stomach!” I thought he was joking and asked him if he was serious. He was.

“Do a lot of people go down on their stomach?”

“Yea!?”

“What percentage of people?”

“About 80 percent!”

Good enough for me to quickly evaluate the odds of me dying going face first were low. If he was telling the truth that is.

It was the time of my life! Can’t wait to do it again next year. Maybe I’ll run a little more. And as for crossing of the first item on my 30 by 30 list… Done and done. Just 29 more to go!

Tags: 30 by 30, 30x30, 5k, goals, lists, race, running