Delta 10K!

Well, we did it.  We actually did it!  On Sunday, Miranda, Kate, Jane, Christen and I woke up super early and ran the Veterans Day 10k!

This race was my very first race (it was most of our first races actually). You would think for a first race we would have chosen something a bit shorter – like a 5K perhaps. Nope! You know my motto – go big or go home. So run we did all 6.2 miles of it!

We had a bit of a stressful start. Ben and I got turned around and were totally confused as to where the race started. He ended up dropping Christen and I off at the Jefferson, which was prob a good mile from the actual starting point. Talk about a warmup! Christen and I ran around the monument area, hoped a fence, and somehow found the starting point. Due to my lack of direction, we started twenty minutes after the gun. But off we went together and Christen definitely kept me going.

Mile one was ok – the first mile is never fantastic. But mile number two was brutal. At one point, Christen and I looked at each other like “we must have missed the two mile marker. That one way up in the distance HAS to say 3 miles.” Nope. It said 2 miles.

Somewhere between mile marker two and three, we found Kate and Miranda who had already turned around at the half way point. Shortly after, we found Jane! And then at mile three, the boys were waiting with a smile to cheer us on! When Christen and I hit the turnaround point, and then she took off! I needed a bit of a break and didn’t want to hold her back. The second half was what I call a “healthy mix” of running and walking. Once I hit the five mile marker however, I took off! I had gone that far I wasn’t going to walk into the finish line! Once I got back into my stride everything felt ok.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 1 hour and 14 minutes. Yes, I’m a bit slow. But considering I walked a “healthy mix” and was able to keep my pace under 12 minute miles, I was pretty happy. Pretty much I was just happy that it was OVER!

Afterwards we went to breakfast at Crystal City Sports Pub and had a good laugh at what we had just done. Oh and we ate – a lot – and enjoyed some birthday mimosas. We found ourselves saying “should I have that [second mimosa, plate of bacon, second helping]? Sure, why not – I just ran a 10k!