I woke up nervous and excited at 5:30 am. A light breakfast, a cup of coffee, a whole lot of deep breaths on the thought of appearing on a Marine base in running tights...and myself, my husband and my running teen were out the door.
As you know, I've been training for and dreading this race for quite awhile. On the ride up, I reached my Zen place. My iPad was loaded with fun new tunes, I knew I was fit enough to finish a 6 mile race, and frankly, it was too damn late to back out!
It was a sold out race (750 participants!!) so both parking and port o potties were an issue. After those particular issues were handles, we were swallowed by the waiting crowd which was upbeat and fun. There was a 1 mile fun run immediately preceeding the 10K and honestly, at least 600 people were there cheering these little kids (some as young as 3-4) in. Serious adorable factor. I found my spot among my "people" at the back of the line, while the fast runners in the family positioned themselves in front. There was a huge bottleneck at the start line and it actually took 3 minutes for me to get on course.
Once out there I took an easy pace that I felt I could sustain. I was passed by aLOT of runners, and told myself that it was OKAY. I got the tunes pumping and just sort of enjoyed the sun, the crowd and the reward for all my training! Miles started ticking away, and around Mile 4 I realized that I hadn't walked at all, nor would I need to anytime soon. A huge grin broke across my face (I must've looked like an idiot) and I started cheering for the fast runners on the other side of the road who'd passed the last turnaround and were headed to the finish. Once I passed the turnaround, I mentally checked my body and pace and figured yep, "I got this". I made my way down to Mile 6, grinning (seriously, I still hadn't had to walk a step!), high-fived the fine lookin' young Marine at the last corner and brought my ass home. I even found the energy to sprint past the couple in front of me. High fives and fist bumps to my family who were waiting at the finish line and I was done! I almost cried a bit because I was so friggin' proud of myself. Goal time: 1:10, Finish time 1:10:06.
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