OMG! As the valley girl would say, I ran the whole thing! All 3.1 miles!

It was a beautiful, overcast, 60 degree Sunday morning. Although rain had been forecast, not a drop was falling. I was all set with my new stability shoes and my racing chip attached.

I had never run in a race before. I’ve been to several of my husband’s races, but it is very different when you are the participant. The mass of people exuded an energy that is so infectious that you cannot help but feel excited and exhilarated. To say the very least, I was pumped!

After arriving an hour and a half early (b/c they said to), we finally got to line up according to our average mile time. I chose the end of the 10 minute mile as I have been clocking around 10:40 seconds per mile in training (but that was only running 1.5 miles with walking in between). I hoped I had not chosen incorrectly.

After the national anthem where no one sang, which I thought was so weird (Tangent: I love singing the national anthem, and I figured that being surrounded by a bunch of women, I would get a great chance to sing in an impromptu chorus. Nope, no one sang.), the Aflac duck screamed the start, and we were off!

My heart was racing as I wondered if I would be able to run the entire 3 miles. Then, I decided right there in the chute that I would run the three miles. I weaved through the clump of women as we all began to find our paces. The first mile was cake. Then, in the middle of the second mile, I started getting tired. That’s when the mind over matter became very real for me.

It was my determination to keep going, not my physical prowess, that kept my body jogging. I had one thought, “I want to be able to tell everyone that I ran the whole thing!” I did not want my first race to be me wimping out half way through!

Thus, I kept that mantra in my head the rest of the way, and it worked!!!

Now, as I hit the chute for the finish, it was about 150 or 200 yards until the finish line. I decided to sprint this last part because it wasn’t that long, and I figured I might as well. So, off I go. In my mind, I was running like the wind. I had Chariots of Fire in my head. Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun dunnnnnn….. I could feel that I was really extending my legs and making huge strides toward that finish line!!! Boy was I looking good in my head!

So, when I finished and found my husband, he told me that he had videoed my finish. I was so excited!! I could see how good I really looked! Yay!

Here’s the video – I’m in the pink hat:

Aflac Finish 2010

Alright, I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off at this video. I looked nothing like I was picturing! Where’s my awesome extension??? What about the speed? Where did that sway back come from???

Man, I’ve got some work to do. However, let’s not lament here. There is a lot of good stuff to say. For example, when comparing my first ever run video from April, I definitely have a lot more extension than I had then. I’m just not at an olympic athlete range like I was picturing myself as being. So, all is not lost.

Overall, my finish stats were good! Especially considering how spotty my training was.

I placed 371 out of 1371 – that means that out of the total 1371 ladies who ran, I finished before 1000 of them! Not bad 🙂

In my age group, 30-34, I came in 65 out of 255! I was in the top third! Also, not bad 🙂

My time was 32:50, which is an average pace of just under 11 minutes per mile. Woohoo!!! I maintained my estimated pace!

I enjoyed this race so much that I think I’ll try to find another one, and soon! I’m going to stick with 5K for a little while longer to make sure my feet are ready. This race did not cause any symptoms in my left foot, which is awesome. I am so relieved!

Anyway, onto training!!!