Sooo, a little background about me...

Well as you know, my name is Kayla and I am from a small town in central Wisconsin where I have lived my whole life. I am a huge football and baseball enthusiast (don't be surprised if I blog about the Brewers a bit) and have been a very athletic and active person from 2nd grade until now. Growing up, I played softball, basketball, and volleyball and even tried to run in track (lets just say that didn't turn out too well).

After high school, I was at a stand still when it came to sports and fitness. With no competitive sports to play I was lost and didn't know what to do. I started going to the campus gym, working on my cardio mostly (Im still a newbie when it comes to weight training) but I felt that something was missing. I finally realized what it was... the competitive edge I had in high school. I missed it...plain and simple. There is no competitive edge when racing yourself on the treadmill and lets be honest...I was starting to feel a little bit like a hamster on a wheel.

I turned to intermurals to try and get my competitive fix but basketball and trenchball (a lot like dodgeball, google it) were just not enough. Plus it didn't help that the people I was playing against were just trying to relive their high school years.

My mom, my brother Adam, and ME!

This is about the time that I unexpectedly found 5K's. Now let me just say this...I hated running in high school...HATED IT! Whenever we had to run during basketball I wasn't the last runner but I was definitely not the first and you could hear me grumbling along the way. It just wasn't for me.

The first 5K that I stumbled upon was just this month on May 1st and I seriously mean stumbled upon. I came into this 5K with no training and little preparation, finding out about it only three weeks before it was going to happen. Luckily, I got my mom and brother to join me so that I didn't feel like I was the only one not prepared.

On the day of the 5K, inappropriately named Spring Thaw, temps were in the mid 30's and the wind was blowing at a pretty good speed. Definitely not ideal temps for a girl who doesn't know if she likes to run yet. Putting on my cheetah cuddle duds (Not a "gear girl" yet, plus I just love anything cheetah) I was determined to not only finish the race but do it under 30 minutes.

Bundled up with our ipods blasting, my brother, mom and I finished the race a little frozen but definitely looking forward to more 5K's (we are all a little competitive, must run in the blood). Also with a time of 28:51, I ranked 17th in my age class out of a total of 62. Not the best but with more preparation I know I can do better. The more important thing was that my goal of finishing under 30 minutes was reached.

Now its just time to look forward to Race #2 which is on June 11th in Wisconsin Rapids. Hopefully with a little more preparation and A LOT less wind, I can do much better on my next run and my new found "like" for 5K's will turn into something a little more like love.