My First 10K!

Well, I DID IT!!! I completed my first 10K this morning! Here is my race report:

I woke up this morning with a lot of anxiety about the race. After last weekend's 10 miler I had been dealing with knee and leg pain all week. I only ran once this past week and did a lot of icing and stretching. I was concerned about my ability to finish, due to these injuries. I didn't have much pain anymore, but since I hadn't run all week, I was worried about how I would feel once I started running.

I got to the race about 30 min before my start...it was COLD! The temp was 37-degrees, but it was a beautiful, sunny day. I had signed up for the early start, for those who estimated to finish around 1:15 or later. I started with 5 other women at 8:50 am.

I felt great the at the start...no aches or pains at all. I was running about 11 min miles for the first few, without any problem. The 5K started 10 min after my start, so it was not long before I was being passed by the fast 5K runners. I should mention scenery here. Fall here in upstate NY is gorgeous...the leaves are all changing and watching the scenery helped keep my mind off of my anxiety. Now, I mentioned scenery because when the fast guys in the 5K started passing me, the scenery got even better. :) I know, I know....I need help....just keepin' it real. :)

O.k...back to my race. Once I got to the halfway point I was feeling great! I decided to speed up a bit and was running about 10:00 miles. I finished strong and felt great at the end. I did 6.25 miles in 1:06! I am very happy with my time. It was my first 10K and now I have a good starting point from which to work. I had my usual post-race juice and bagel and then cheered for those finishing after me.

By the time I got home, my legs felt tired and a little sore in the quads, but not bad at all. There was a fire fighter expo here I wanted to take the kiddos to, so I took a quick shower and drove them over to go look at firetrucks.

I am thrilled to have the 10K under my belt. The race today had both a 5K and a 10K. Last year I did the 5K...it was my first 5K in 12 years! I remember thinking that I could never do the 10K. This past year I have gotten more into running and realized that anything is possible. I have met runners who didn't start running until their 40s and have since completed many marathons. My biggest enemy was myself...now I am realizing that if I train right, there is no limit on what I can do. I have a magnet on my fridge that says:

"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can"

I am trying to stick with that and see how far I get.

I am planning on taking this week off from running. I have had a busy summer/fall racing season and think my body needs a break. My next goal is a half marathon this summer...only time will tell. :)