A day late, but not a mile short....my first 10k!

So remember that 10k I was planning to do on Sunday?  Yeah, it didn't happen.  First, because I was still feeling pretty icky (darn kids and their viruses!) and second because when we all got up in the morning to run, it was pouring rain.  The running gods must have been looking out for me on that one.

A running friend shared a great article yesterday evening, and it really resonated with me.  You can read it here, if you are interested.  It was about how slow is all relative and how we need to stop being so hard on ourselves and just believe that we can be great.  I took that to heart last night and woke up today feeling ready to run.

 

I went about my day, which happened to involve a trip to the allergist because I'm getting some patch testing done this week.  They got my patches, all 36 of them, situated on my back and taped things into place.  Then the nurse told me I couldn't shower until I have them removed on Thursday, and that I could not run tonight because they would fall off.  SAY WHAT, LADY?!?!?!?  I could not abide by either of those things....simply could not.  I stopped at the store on my way home from the allergist and bought some heavy duty water-proof tape.  I was running my freaking race tonight, thank you very much!   How could I not do this race?  It's not everyday that a girl who went crazy and started running gets to run in a race called Running Mad after all!

We were scheduled to head out at 7pm.  The race was part of a virtual race for the Moms Run This Town national group.  My local chapter (which is awesomesauce, by the way!) had the half marathoners do their race last weekend, so it was just the 10k people who could make it tonight....so all in all, there were 5 of us running.  Not the same as a big race like my first 5k last month, but to me, it was just as big of a deal.  This was me, climbing another mountain on this running journey. 

The route was a fairly straight out and back with a few decent hills. By the time I hit the halfway point, I knew I had this thing.  I was feeling good.  My breathing was steady and I was maintaining a comfortable pace consistently.  I knew I would be able to finish without walking, and that alone was enough to keep me going.  The weather was lovely and I rocked out to some great tunes (like the lovely Gangnam Style added by my son) as I just ran. 

Yes, I was at the back of the pack and guess what?  I didn't even care!  Those people running ahead of me all had way more than 3 months of running experience under their belts.  And do you know what those amazing ladies did for me?  As I headed into the last quarter mile or so, they came back to join me so I didn't finish alone.  I can never put into words what that meant to me.  These people, most of whom I've met just once or twice before, rallied me on and ran with me as I finished my first 10k.  And even though I was technically in last place, I felt like a winner.  Because really, for me, it was a win.  I finished and I ran the whole time.  Even a few short weeks ago I wasn't sure if I'd be able to run it all, and I DID! 

3 months ago, I started running because I lost my mind one day.  I could barely run for 1 minute straight and felt like I would surely die.  Today, I finished my first 10k race in 1 hour, 24 minutes, and 25 seconds.  That is a pretty darn big deal, I think. 

I even earned my first ever medal.  And for the record when my 6 year old asked me if I got last place, I told her that technically I did...but I think I prefer to say I got 5th place.  It *is* true after all, and 5th place has a much nicer ring to it.  Don't you think?  ;-) 

 

 

(And YES for anyone wondering, I DID bathe tonight after the race as well! If I was going to break the rules from the Dr. to run, I figured I needed to go all in and be a clean rule-breaker.)