Rescue Me…
I am doing a 10k! Well, actually I did a 10k, and look…I survived to tell the story!
“10k” always sounded scary to me, I guess it sounded more like “10 miles”, which is scarier. I’ve always been a 5k wanna-be just because of the pure fact that it was the shortest distance offered in many races! I figured hey, if I can run a 5k, there are a lot of races I can do! Well now it’s not so true. I’m finally beginning to realize that if I want to get anywhere in the running world, I either need to be super fast at a 5k or withstand long distances at a reasonable time. I can’t decide which idea I like better. Hold that thought…I just thought of running a marathon, I got sick to my stomach and may have thrown up in my mouth a little…ok I’ll stick to the “short” and fast races for now.
Back to the 10k, my husband and I ran the 32nd Annual Rescue Run 10k. They also had an option for a 5k but I decided that it was time to move on and try other things. After torturing my 2 year old son to try and run in the kids 50 meters, it was time to try and focus on my torturing run. I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea what the course was like (maybe it was better that way). I had no idea WHAT I WAS GETTING MYSELF INTO! Finally the time came to line up at the start, the final countdown began…”3 minutes until race start” was shouted over the loud speaker. I took a look around, and with the amount of people that were there, (778 finishers overall) I figured I’d be able to squeeze my way through them and hide out in a port-o-potty. Too bad the husband had me on visual lockdown! “30 seconds left until race start” CRAP! Where did the time go!?!? Ok, here we go, one more chance to jump up and down and get the jitters out….GO! We were off! There were so many people at the start and since I am so new to races, I just shadowed behind the hubby. Elbows were thrown, snow was flung, some noses were raised as people (old and young) passed me. The first couple of miles was all uphill, a steady incline on pavement. Blah…I wore my trail shoes. Again, I had no idea what the race course was like or else I would have known better! My trail shoes did come in handy once or twice downhill at least!
Even though the sun was out and it was a beautiful day, I went back and forth trying to find the right temperature with my sleeves. Remember that ONE winter running outfit I have? Yeah, those sleeves. Up with the base layer, down with the top layer. Down with the base layer, up with the top layer. Brr….down with both layers. After I was done playing musical sleeves…I just left them alone and started to refocus on the last few up-hills until the turn around. After that, it was smooth sailing down hill. The hubby and I posed for the race photographer (nice pose darling) and then pushed to the finish. Or should I say PULLED. That’s right…the whole last 50 meters or so, my wonderful husband was pulling on my jacket so that he could finish in front of me! Sheesh! It’s not my fault that I have long legs and can sprint the finish…back off buck-o!
