Well, that one's over

Saturday's 10K was ... OK. I don't really feel strongly one way or the other about the experience. I finished in 1:04.24 - just under my 1:05.00 goal. I think I could have pushed myself a little harder, but then again, it was my first "bigger" race and I'm just glad I finished at all. I was feeling a little blah about the whole thing on Saturday, and my wonderful BF made me realize that no matter what my time was, I should just be happy I was out there in the first place -- how many other people ran a race this weekend? He's right, and I'm glad I have him to knock some sense into me.

When I showed up on Saturday morning, I got a huge, initial rush from being among all the activity. The coolest thing was the huge, huge, huge American flag flying hoisted by fire trucks over the balloon archway at the Finish. I am not a super-patriot who usually is moved by the sight of flags, but for some reason seeing all of this together really got me excited. It was like I was doing a "real" race or something.


I had some issues with the sheer number of people running. I was annoyed that I spent more time focused on not running into anyone else than actually running during my first mile or so. Plus, it was freaking hot. I was dressed lightly, but it didn't matter once the sun hit. Remember, this is one of the first warm days we've had in Minneosta, and I think my system was a little shocked to go from cool-weather running to VERY hot-weather running in one day.

I also came to the realization that I really hate being by myself; I don't have the luxury of having anyone to run with during the race, but I am definitely making my boyfriend stay with me until the line-up next time. I figured it would be easier for him to avoid traffic and everything else if he stayed on the opposite side of the river and just waited for me to run by. In retrospect, I wish he would have been there to pump me up before the race and had seen me at a couple different points, rather than just at the 4-mile marker. I need more motivation than that! Notes to self for next time...

Anyway, now I'm just rambling. The bottom line is that my first 10K is behind me, and now I can move on to other goals. The race atmosphere hopefully won't be as daunting to me next time around, and with every race, there is room for improvement and more lessons to be learned. Running is definitely a journey; that is one thing I took away from this weekend.

Hope everyone else did well/had fun this weekend! I know there were a lot of other races and events happening out there. (FYI: none of these pictures are actually of me running ... due to trusting the BF with the camera. There was one crappy picture taken; maybe it will make it up here eventually.)