It was so good to be able to run farther and farther every 10 days or so, and about 8 days before the race I was able to run 4.8 miles (a 10k race is 6.2 miles).
The night before the race was very stormy and rainy. I was so nervous and excited about the race, and scared that it would be raining that I woke up pretty much every hour of the night to check on the weather outside. The race started at 8:00am, but the shuttles that were taking the runners to the starting line were running from 6:30 to 7:15. I wanted to make the first shuttle so I got up at 5:00am (after a night of fitful sleep) and made it in time for the first shuttle.
I took this photo on the shuttle on the way up to the starting line. It was quite cold, windy, and cloudy. The shuttle got to the starting line at 7:00 am, leaving the early bird runners to wait for an hour in the cold. This is one case where being early was not a good idea.
Finally, it was time to lineup and start the race. I knew the course would have hills, but I wasn't expecting the first and most severe hill to hit as early as it did - in the first 1-1/2 miles of running. My goal with every race I've run has been to never stop running. I came extremely close to walking on that first hill. It took just about every bit of determination to not.stop.running. The second hill was somewhere around mile 3-1/2. It was very long, but had a pretty gradually climbing grade. The third and last hill was at some point during mile 5. I had run this hill during my training runs, and it was quite easy compared to the previous hills.
That last mile was so hard. I had to keep telling myself I could do this, God made my legs and my body to be able to run, to be able to do hard runs, to not give up. Finally, I saw the finish line, and the desire to be finished and excitement that I had finished kicked in, and I was able to sprint the last 100 ft. or so to the finish.
I got home and had breakfast.
Because that's the other not-too-smart thing I did: I ran on an empty stomach. That breakfast was delicious. I then took a nap for about 2 hours.
I learned a lot from my first 10k. One, I have more determination than I thought I did. Races are a wonderful way to push yourself to run farther. Getting proper sleep and nutrition before a race is very important. The feeling of finishing a race, especially a longer one, is wonderful. And even though while I was running this race I wondered if I was absolutely out of my mind to think I ever wanted to run a half-marathon, I signed up for my second 10k right after my 2 hour nap. I think running is becoming a habit. And I'm so glad it is.
