New Year’s Resolution walk/run

YMCA New Year's Resolution walk_run - finish line

I can’t believe I’m going to show this picture.  I’ll just make it as small as possible.

New Year's Resolution walk_run - awful picture

This was me a week ago.  Well, January 4th to be exact.  You see back in December I signed up to do a three-series walk/run sponsored by the local YMCA.  One walk per month for the next three months.  I knew it was a risk to sign up for winter walks because it could be frigid in January … and February.

Who knew that we would have -15°F wind chills for the very first walk!  They weren’t going to call it off unless it was -20°F … but tell me please:  What’s the big difference between -15 and -20?!  It’s still dangerously cold.   I decided to skip the December walk and play it safe.  If I remember correctly, Little Chick and I made cookies instead.

One skipped, two to go.  I was worried the second walk would result in the same problem as we had horribly cold temperatures the week before.  But Saturday dawned to a balmy +25°F and so off I went.

YMCA New Year's Resolution walk_run start line

There was plenty of wait time … which was good because I started looking at the other walkers / runners and decided to shed a layer.  If I hadn’t I would have been too warm.

YMCA New Year's Resolution walk_run - ready to go

I’m not sure how many participated, but I’m guessing it was a couple hundred.  Not bad for January.

And just so you don’t think I showed up and took a picture of the start and finish lines, here’s an action shot 🙂

YMCA New Year's Resolution walk_run - action shot

I still can’t believe I walked a full 5K.  As I said it had been terribly cold and I hadn’t walked at all in weeks.  But the miles actually went by rather quickly.

YMCA New Year's Resolution walk_run - finish line

I managed to stay toward the front of the walking pack and was only passed a couple of times.  I managed to finish 1 full minute less than the 5K walk I did last May, which I think is saying something.  Walking in January isn’t like May.  It’s cold, you’re bundled up in multiple layers, and it just happened to snow a little bit the day before so the sidewalks and streets were slippery and you had to take it easy in some spots.

Now I have to concentrate on the 3rd and final walk in February … and then I signed up for the Festival Foods Grand Half Marathon at the beginning of May.  I’m not doing the Half Marathon … at least not this year :-).  Last year I walked the 5K.  This year I’m hoping to run all or at least most of it.  I’m going to have a lot of work to do between now and then…

3 Replies to “New Year’s Resolution walk/run”

  1. Mamahen,

    You made a good call in skipping that first walk and congrats on the 5K that you completed! I recently walked a marathon even though I SWORE that I never would…That half marathon could be in your future! Thanks for sharing and aloha, Lori

  2. Congratulations on your walk!

  3. I’m a little surprised at the Y for scheduling 5Ks at such a risky time of year. Good for you, on both the decision to skip the first walk and the participation in the second!

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