Run #75: My first 10K!!!!!!!!!

WOOOO HOOOOO!! I did it! I ran every step of my first 10K! My time was 1:07:45, which is an average of 10:55 per mile.

Before I get into the details, here was my funniest moment of the race: There was a good-natured heckler at the side of the road almost 3 miles into the race. (He was yelling, "Only 5 miles left to go!") I yelled back, "You get out here and run with us! You can talk big...!" He laughed and then held up his camera, which by that time was just taking a picture of my back.

All right, here are the details. First, my approximate mile times:
Mile 1: 12:28
Mile 2: 11:03
Mile 3 & 4: Average 11:02*
Mile 5: 9:43
Mile 6: 10:27**
Final 0.2 miles: 2:00**

*Missed Mile 3 marker; Miles 3 & 4 together were 22:04.

**My final 1.2 miles were 12:27 total, so I'm estimating my Mile 6 time and my final 0.2 mile time.

This was so awesome!!! I ran it with my friend David. He's not a runner, and he kept up with me (even went ahead at the end--go, David!) It was really fun to run with someone.

At the beginning we started ULTRA-slow. Nearly everyone was passing us. But at the mile marker, people started running out of steam and walking, so we got the fun of passing people!

We were able to speed up a bit for the next few miles, and at the 4 mile marker, I was feeling good, so I decided to push my pace. (I was setting the pace for me and David.) Obviously I ran out of steam somewhat after Mile 5, but it was still a good pace at the end--a lot faster than I have been going in my training. That last mile and a half was hard--I was tired!! But it felt WONDERFUL to be able to push my pace faster for the last 1/3 of the race, since I'd conserved my energy.

Originally, my goal was to do this race in under 11 minutes a mile. My training times were slower than that, though, and I realized I just needed to have the goal of running the whole way. I didn't want to stress myself out by trying to hit a particular pace. I'm so glad--if I'd continued to have that "11 minute a mile" goal, I would have been a little freaked out to see how slow my first mile was! But whaddya know--I was able to reach my (discarded) goal of 11 minutes a mile (actually, 10:55) and, more importantly, reach my primary goal of running every step.

I felt like this was such a SWEET reward, for getting up and going outside to run, by myself, 3 or 4 times a week, for the last 5 1/2 months. To come together with 20,000 (!!) other runners, all different ages and fitness levels, and enjoy the thrill of the race--and to meet my goals--was just awesome.