10k ~ Check!

Well friends, I made it!! First 10k on the books and ready for more!! I had an absolute blast!!

I went with my beautiful daughter and a friend from work. We set out on our journey @ 6:00am. Found our destination, got ready and by 8:20am I was on the road.

Here's the low down...

• Sadly I was tired. Yesterday was a kick butt day...My hubby made my spaghetti, but by the time it was done, we had to go to church. I thought I would eat after, but we did not get home until 10:30pm. Way too late for me to eat!! By the time I got into bed it was 11:30pm. Way to late for me! I tossed and turned, just too excited and finally at midnight I fell into a deep, peaceful, wonderful sleep. And then.....the biggest, loudest, scariest thunder rocked our house, waking us all up including the dogs, who then thought it a good idea to go into a barking frenzy. Needless to say, it was not the kind of night you would desire to have just prior to a sporting event.
  
• Then I was up @ 5:00am. I thought it a good idea to shower and wash my hair...why? I can't tell you. Well I was kind of thinking that I had such a hard night, that I might be refreshed with a shower. Yup it did the trick, but as I gathered my gear and was in my car headed for my daughters house, I realized that I had not had breakfast. YIKES!!!
  
• I get to my daughters in plenty of time and Bless her heart, she had a hearty bowl of oatmeal waiting for me. So I gobbled away and we soon set out.


• We arrive at our destination about the same time as my friend and found the starting line. Soon the half marathoners were off and we were waiting for our turn.
  
• We're lining up, most of the crazies were dressed in Halloween costumes, and we were ready to go. The gun goes off and we are on our way.
  
• Then thanks to our wonderful Oregon weather it begins to rain. And then it rains really hard. So I'm walking, remember I decided I could not run, and I'm just pluggin' along and after awhile all of the runners and really fast walkers were quite a ways ahead of me. I am not alarmed, just going my own pace, having fun, feeling good. And then something prompts me to take a look behind me and we were DEAD LAST!!!!! Not a soul behind me!!


• Yikes that was just not going to do it for me. There were a thousand people ahead of me!!! I was not going to stand for that. I was not going to come in last. So I picked me a target and started running. I ran and caught up to the first pack, passed some people, then started walking. I kept that up the whole way. We figured I probably ran 1 1/2 miles of the 6. Pretty good for me, since I was told by my doctor that I could not do it. HaHa - Yes I can!!!
  
• About mile 2 I saw a heavy set lady walking by herself and she was wearing a devil costume. Hummmm...Maybe I should not be surprised by what she did. So I see her up ahead of me. She was my next target, so I walked and ran and finally passed her with no problem. Feeling pretty good about myself, I kept that up with many other people. Then around mile 4 I see this same woman ahead of me again. I know it was her, I was targeted on the back of her body for quite awhile the first time I caught up to her. So I'm like, what the heck. I know she did not pass me, nobody passed me, where did she come from? Anyway, I retargeted her and passed her again. So now the pack is jockeying back a forth, I'm passing some people, they're passing me, as it goes. So at mile 5, I'm getting excited, we are almost to the end and there's that lady again. The big cheater!! Don't know how she knew how to weave in and out of the city blocks, but that's exactly what she did. So for the final time, I set my target and blew past the big cheater, cheater pants AGAIN!!!!!


• Finally the finish line was in sight. Of course, I had to run to the finish. My daughter who decided to run the whole thing in 70 minutes, was waiting with her camera. As I approached I could see her and went flying past her and she missed me. I called out to her and had to do a circle around, so I could get my picture taken. Well you gotta have one, and then I blasted through the finish line ~ 1 hour and 45 minutes later, I was not the last one in, there were 8 people behind me. (Kind of embarrassing, but not - do you know what I mean?)

Anyway, a couple of things I learned. 10k participants are really different from the 5k guys. I mean there was absolutely no messing around. They had a destination and they meant to get there ~ fast!! And I have to say that there were very few walkers in this category. After the running pack took off, there were only about 20-25 of us walking. So I guess I did not do too bad...considering!

The other thing is, I think it's really important to make sure you get done everything you need to prior to the event - food, rest, sleep etc. I tried, but got side tracked.

Shoes....shoes are very, very important! Mine felt like I was running with cardboard on my feet. Not comfortable at all. I will be looking into new pair shortly!!

Wearing layers is so important. I forgot to tell you that it rained only 1 mile of the event. The rest of the way was great, sunny and clear. Wished I had had my sunglasses. Who knew I would need them? Anyway, I was glad I could shed off some of my clothes when it got warmer.

Anyway that's it. I made it, had fun, broke a belief barrier (I CAN RUN) and have my time to beat, for the next big event. I'm thinking 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day!!

What about you, have you done something lately that you thought you could not do?

Hugs!