My first 10K race!

Sunday was my first 10k race.  I have been super excited about this one for a while now because I knew they were giving medals to all finishers.  I have never gotten a medal so I was totally on board!  I rounded up my friend Laura and off we went for our first 10K.  I  have also been chatting with Kristen who I found out lives near(ish) me and was doing the race too!  I knew we would have to meet.  We did :)  Here we are pre-race:

It was so nice to meet her and and her hubs!  I knew what her bib number was and when my friend Laura pointed her out in the distance I ran up and gave her a big hug!  She looks great and should be so proud of herself!

So...let me back up a bit.  On the day before the race we went boating with some friends of ours.  I did some kneeboarding and waterskiing which felt great!  It has been probably 10 years since I have been able to do these things!  The last time I tried I was not able to because my weight was just too much for my wimpy muscles to pull myself out of the water.  Sad, but true.  So it was very exciting when I was capable of doing both.  I also had some wine that day.  Maybe not the smartest idea but I figured if it was early enough I would be fine.  So....morning comes and I am really dragging.  But I got up when the alarm went off at 5:30.  The race was about 45 minutes from my house and I needed to shower(to wake up), get the kids ready, eat something, and make sure I was early.  Here I am on the way to the race....

HAHAHA!  Yup...

So, the hubs stopped and got me some coffee. Thanks hunny!!!   Luckily I woke up some by the time I got there.  We met up with my friend Laura and her awesome family.  Here we are pre-race.

We hear the announcement that its time.  My stomach was a bit upset that morning and I was nervous about that.  I wasnt really nervous about the race, just that my stomach was off and it might be a miserable 6 miles.  We lined up near the back of the pack.  And off we went. 

 Luckily Kristen had warned me that the first half of the race (all three miles!) was uphill.  They were gentle long hills but we managed them.  I was happy that my stomach was holding up.  My feet were sore probably from waterskiing the day before.  Who does that?...goes waterskiing, kneeboarding and drinks wine a day before a race...ugh. 

Sometime around mile 3ish it leveled off and I gained some of my mojo back.  It wasnt too sunny that day but it was pretty humid.  It looked like it might storm.  The course was nice but not too many spectators because of the rural area it was held in.  Regardless, the course was gorgeous.  I think between mile 3 and 4 I was dying for a water station because I wanted to use some Gu.  I didnt see one but knew it couldnt be far since the last one seemed to be a while back.  So I used my Gu and sure enough a few minutes later we came up on a water station where they were also handing out Gu.  I drank some, poured some over my head and then a really sweet volunteer joined in on the fun and splashed a cup of water on the front of me.  It felt great!  The Gu kicked in quickly, thank goodness! 

A little before this point we also met up with a girl named Amy.  She was such a sweet girl.  Laura and I were chatting with her and she seemed to be struggling a bit.  She was there alone.  She doesnt have any friends that are runners she said.  I told her she could do it!  We came up on the last hill which was tough.  I saw the panic in her eyes,  and she said  she didnt think she could do it and to go ahead.  Laura and I were on each side of her.  We told her thats not how we roll and that she could do it.  We stayed with her.  I told her to look down at the ground directly in front of her and not ahead at the hill.   And before we knew it we were over the hill.  I could see how proud she was of herself.  She had said she had to walk a few times in the beginning on the hills and they werent nearly as tough as the last one.  We kept talking back and forth for the rest of the race.  Near the end when my watch was already telling me we were at 6.2 miles (10K) we still werent at the finish line.  Huh?  My garmin couldnt be wrong...could it?  We were coming up to the end and a man said we had about a quarter of a mile left.  Again, I saw the worry in her eyes.   I reminded her how good she will feel when she is all done holding a medal in her hand, and that we were almost there.  When we came up on the finish line (finally at 6.6 miles according to my watch) Laura and I sprinted to the finish line and she was right behind us!  She finished running and she was so proud of herself.  We hugged and even got some post race pics.  We are now friends on Facebook and she later wrote me this comment that means so much to me:  "It was so great meeting you!! Your support and encouragement was exactly what I needed. good luck training for your half, stay in touch and let me know how it goes!"   Here are some post race pics:

Me post race sporting my medal :)

Laura, me and our new friend Amy  :)

Kristen and me!  So awesome to meet her!

Sprinting to the finish.

Done!  Obviously my little blonde was quite interested...hehe.

Our sign crew.

Love it!

Waiting for us.  Apparently they were very patient.

Me and Laura post race.  My oldest was loving my medal too :)

Yaaay!

And there you have it.  My first 10K.  It was a great experience.  I came home and I was exhausted.  I napped for like 3 hours.  My weight still feels pretty high.  My pants are tight.  It just seems so odd that I am doing all this exercise and gaining.  Two weeks ago I ran 27 miles.  Last week was less but still in the teens.  Oh well.  Right now I am focusing on my half marathon.  And if it feels anything like how I felt when I finished the 10k and received my medal, I cant wait!  And another thing that made me feel good... the hubs came up and kissed me yesterday before my nap.  He told me he was so proud of me and that I am "hardcore".  He said after skiing, kneeboarding and drinking wine he thought I would be in bad shape.  A round about compliment but I will take it.  He has been so supportive of my running and it means the world to me.