Phoenix 10K

This past Saturday, I ran my first 10K.  It was an emotional roller coaster for me...and a learning lesson in many ways too.

I guess I should probably begin at 3:00am, when I woke up frantically because there were cars racing up and down my street.  It took me FOREVER to go back to sleep (in my irrational and delusional state, I kept thinking a car was going to come flying through my wall - it's not that irrational I guess...my room is right at the front of the house).  By the time I got back to sleep, my alarm went off about an hour later.  Needless to say, it wasn't the best sleep I had hoped for before a race.

The night before, I had laid out all my clothes for the race and left my water, armband case and bib by the front door.  Well on the way out, I apparently forgot my bib and didn't realize it until I was almost to the parking lot where I was supposed to catch my bus...I channeled my inner "fast and the furious" and bolted back home to get the bib, and made it to the race shuttle just before the last bus left.  Talk about a wake up call!  My adrenaline was definitely pumping.

I get dropped off at the starting line, and it's still pretty cold out for Arizona (it was like 50 degrees).  After fighting with by bib and pins for what seemed like forever, I looked down and my race shirt on backwards - I realize this as the singer belts out the national anthem in preparation for the canon start in less than 5 minutes.  Frantically, I tried to get my shirt switched around (I didn't want to the be idiot in the pictures with their shirt on backwards) just minutes before the race began.

I had also decided to wear my Under Armour ColdGear under my race shirt, which inevitably ended up being a really bad decision.  By mile 1, I was BURNING UP!  But I sucked it up anyway, because I didn't want to stop and take the time to try and get out of it.

The first two miles were brutal.  I assume because of everything that went wrong that morning (my mind was going crazy), I had a really difficult time getting my head in the game.  I also felt incredibly emotional.  The Phoenix 10K is part of the marathon and half marathon series, so there were many families out there to cheer on their loved ones.  There were also plenty of strangers with hilarious signs for all the "random" runners they didn't know.  Some of my favorites included:
-You thought they said RUM, didn't you?
-You're all Kenyans in our eyes.
-Worst Parade Ever
-You've trained longer than Kim Kardasian's marraige.
The whole race benefited AzBrainFood (http://www.azbrainfood.org/), an amazing non-profit that provides backpacks of food to feed hungry children over the weekend.  So along the route, there were signs with pictures of children, thanking the runners for supporting them.

The combo of my morning madness, seeing all the supporters out to cheer for the runners and the pictures of the children (seriously...pictures of adorable babies...really?!) created this huge emotional feeling for me.  I  started crying a few times.  I just couldn't control it, so I kinda went with it.  I think the few tears I shed the first few miles ended up making me run better.  I was able to get out some of that energy and for some reason, it kept me going, even though I really wanted to quit many, many times.

I finished up the race 11 minutes faster than I had anticipated (did it in 1:18:56), which thrilled me.  And two days later, I am still incredibly sore!  I will never forget my first 10K experience because I learned many things:

• Pin my bib on my shirt the night before my race
• Don't wear ColdGear unless it is actually, truly, really cold
• Recruit people to come cheer for me (it was such a great race, I just wished I had some supporters to wait for me at the finish line)
• Never plan a Girl Scout Cookie Booth sale immediately after a race
• Try to make the morning as stress-free as possible

So now I have successfully kept up with one of my goals for the year (a race a month).  I have completed 3 races.  I have an awesome medal from the Phoenix 10K.  This coming weekend, I have my Kiss Me I'm Irish 17K (Lord help me).  I've successfully run half the miles I need for my half - and I feel pretty good about it!

So as sore as I am today, and despite the fact that shin splints are killing me right now, I am very happy with my running progress.  I'm heading out tonight for a quick little jog, hopefully to loosen my body up and get me up and moving again.  

Oh...last little note.  I wore two strands of pearls for this race.  Don't ask me why, cause I have no idea.  But double the pearls, double the fun! :)