I guess that makes us runners now.

Well, it's Sunday afternoon. You know what that means... I finished my first 10k this morning! One hour and nine minutes after I started, the announcer called my name as I ran across the finish line. It was a pretty amazing experience - there were several thousand people gathered for this race, including some of the top runners in the world.  As I was on mile 1 and 2, I could see them finishing up their last leg [I'll be ok if I never run a 30 minute 10k]. The first two miles went by pretty quickly, as I was trying to get into my rhythm and just take in the whole scene. It suprised me that people were already starting to walk that early in the race - I just assumed that anyone who pays to run a race is serious about running it.  Mile 2-3 was a straightaway with a turn at the 5k halfway mark. Close to the turning point, I saw a familiar face running in the opposite direction! J was about a 30 seconds/per mile pace a head of me. It felt to see her coming at me, knowing we were both completing our goal. We exchanged a quick high five and kept going at our own paces. Mile 4 was the hardest for me.  Since I was near the end of the race, the people around me weren't serious runners, so they were slowing down, and there were a lot of people walking.  It was hard for me to not join them, but I kept pushing and reminding myself that I was here to *run* the race. Two of the songs I usually sing in my head are 'River of Dreams' by Billy Joel and 'Do You Love Me [Now That I Can Dance]' by the Contours. I kept repeating those until mile 5, where I just started telling myself I had a mile left and I had to keep going. When I got to mile 6, I kicked it up and gave it all I had for the last block, and finished hard.  I almost cried when I heard my name called, I was just so happy to have completed this huge goal.

After the race, there was free food and drinks, and we each bought a race t-shirt in addition to the one we got free. Did I mention we also got finishers medals? [Pictures coming soon!] I need to find a good place to display that. The rest of the day has been spent relaxing, eating lots of good food, and we're off to a double date movie night with our boyfriends in a bit.

So glad that tomorrow is a rest day!

A.