My Midlife Musing

One of my bucket list items is to complete a half-marathon.  Yes, I’ve done several marathons previously — while in my 30s.

At 50, I’ve no ambition to overtax my body — trust me, the marathons in my 30s did enough of that!  But I want to challenge myself, to improve my “Yes I can” ability.

Step 1: a 5k.

Such ambition when a friend and I signed up — we would  train and run in a 5k in San Diego.  Um, no.  Half-hearted to not at all more accurately describes our training program.  Both of us were confident we could walk 3.2 miles so off we went:

Our nautical-inspired room was spacious and, even better, came with a balcony and views of the pool and marina.

View from our room – Sherato San Diego Harbor

A perfect location to get in a good frame of mind for an early morning run (or walk in our case).

But first, we met up with a friend/former co-worker for Mexican food in Old Town.

Margaritas and Mexican in Old Town

There’s no review of food or drink because other than the handmade tortillas, neither were memorable.

Sunday morning arrived quickly and before we knew it, we were on the shuttle bus from the hotel to Balboa Park, the 6:45a start.

Start of America’s Finest City 5k

We’re off!  Did I tell you we had 45 minutes to complete the 5k?  oh yeah there’s a time limit.

I did complete the 5k.  I walk 15 min/mile so I was fairly confident I’d complete 3.2 miles in 45 min.

The shocker?

I had a pace of 13:10 and for my age group, I was #27 out of 231!

Really?  What a lesson — I surprised myself with my pace WITHOUT training.  What if I had put forth some effort?  Maybe I could’ve jogged/ran at 12:00 minute pace!