Extra Yard

The Extra Yard

I realized I was having so much fun running and I wanted to share that moment with someone I cared about. My boyfriend at the time was a former Marine and had mentioned that he wanted to get back into the shape he was during bootcamp. This was the perfect way to do what we both wanted! 

We talked about doing a run together and I signed us up for the Extra Yard 5k. This race intrigued me due to the fact that it follows the College Football Championship Game around the country. The race is organized to provide financial support to schools around the city where the game is held. 

Well, what I had forgotten about was the fact that this race was to be held on January 7th. Yes, the day after another run I was completing. 

That morning we woke up and took MARTA down to Atlanta. The air was a staggering 22*, but we lined up ready to take on this task together. 

The race began and I found it to be such a cool experience running through the city I grew up in. I had the ability to see parts of the city that I had long forgotten were around. Within no time my boyfriend took off in front of me. I was ok with that. In fact  I was proud of him for working towards his goal. 

Around mile 2, I almost gave up due to the frigid weather. However, I told myself to push harder. When I did, it didn't take long for me to catch up to him. We rounded the corner of the Georgia World Congress Center and came up on the finish line. 

It was a different experience being able to share this with someone and it somehow made the finish more special. 

I had a finishing time of 39 minutes and 6 seconds. This was the first time I realized that my time kept improving. That was something that floored me. It got me thinking that maybe I could improve my time with each race moving forward.