First 10K Race

What can I say about my first 10K...besides I am glad its over! Its my third official race and I guess I decided to do the 10K instead of the 5K to push myself a little further. I have never ran 6.2 miles in one run before, so I actually woke up early this morning VERY nervous and unable to go back to sleep. Luke, in his usual supportive fashion, told me I would be fine and couldn't understand what I was worrying about. The competitive spirit in me didn't want to be "fine," I wanted to do well. What exactly "well" meant I didn't know. I wanted a miracle to happen....and come in first! :)


Well.... that didn't happen but I did finish the race with a time of 57:19.
I might have caught Valley Fever, but I finished!
Man alive, the last half of the race, the wind and dust kicked up TERRIBLE.
I was running into the wind and thinking to myself "If I would've just ran the 5K I would be done right now. I am an idiot." :)
The dirt was blowing so terrible when I wiped my mouth on my hand, my hand was smudged with mud. When I cleaned my ears out in the shower afterwards, my Q-Tips were black.
Ewwwwwwww.

The beginning of the race.

There were 250 people who ran the 5K and 150 people who ran the 10K. There were way more people today than in my first two races. This got me even more nervous.
Why?
I don't know.
I think part of my nervousness was the fact that I didn't know any of the runners. Originally there were a number of people I knew who were going to run. The guy at work who gave me the registration form bailed at the last moment as well, in order to play golf.
Go figure. Fun over exercise? And my best friend ended up not being able to run after being up all night sick.
So... I was on my own. Kind of.
Luke and the kids are great cheerleaders. They waved and cheered for me when the race started and were there for me at the finish line. Thinking of them kept me running the last 1-2 miles. I was very thankful to have them there for me. After the race was over I checked my phone and there was an e-mail that Luke sent to me about 30 minutes into the run. It was so inspiring me and it warmed my heart that he thought to do it. Another reason why I love my husband! :)

Bubba came running up to me as soon as I crossed the finished line.

My run as tracked by GPS. Its always interesting to see how I did.

I love nikerunning.com