Cascade 10k

I was completely terrified yesterday morning, so nervous that I actually tossed my cookies before we left the house. I was so relieved to get to the race and find out Running Partner's friend had tossed hers as well. She was telling the story to a man at the race wearing a Boston Marathon jacket and he said that was good, he'd thrown up before his first 9 marathons. Oh boy.

My husband went with me to this event, which somehow scared me. It was like what I was doing suddenly became real and public, not hidden and private. Made me nervous, but I wanted him there. I met my RP and her friend at the race, but we weren't planning to run together. We hung out, though, excited and nervous. My sister in law and her friend also were there, but they were running the half marathon. Since I was on my own they invited me to run the first half of the 10k with them, an offer I gratefully accepted.

I was so happy with how this race turned out for me. I rested hard to prepare, drank a ton of water, ate my carbs like a good girl, and got a lot of sleep. I knew I was going to need every little help I could get after Monday's pretty disastrous 6 mile run. I'm not sure if any one thing paid off, or if all of my efforts combined made a difference, but I felt really strong at Cascade.

The first 3.2 miles I ran with my sister in law and her friend. They were running 5 minutes, walking 30 seconds, running 5 minutes. I knew that would be a smart move for me and that on my own I wouldn't do intervals. It turned out to be a good plan because by the time I turned around at the halfway mark and headed back without them, I was still feeling good and knew I could finish okay.

When I turned around and headed back on my own, I picked out RP's friend out of the crowd ahead of me. She was in bright blue and easy to spot, and she was also a long way ahead of me. I don't know if you'd call this a strength or a weakness, but I really hate to lose. At the 5k I was 3rd of the three of us running and I was determined not to be this time. My goal? Overtake RP's friend and soundly beat her. She was a long way off, so I just kept my eyes on her. Instead of periods where I'd slow down, I added hurry-it-up sections. I did walk for a few seconds a couple of times, but not because I was desperate to stop, just because I knew it would help me later.

It took me all the way to the last mile marker, but I caught up to her. I wasn't trying to run with her, I was trying to pass her, but she stayed with me all the way to the last 1/4 mile. I was trying to reconcile coming in behind her after all when she took off at a sprint I just didn't have in me. She only sprinted a few feet and then she dropped almost to a walk, at which point I took off with everything I had. I ended up beating her by 11 seconds. It's amazing how good 11 seconds can feel!

Hubby ran over, gave me a huge hug, and the first thing I said to him was, "I just beat RP's friend ~ did you see that? I beat her!" LOL Does that make me a real runner, or just sort of sad? :)

I finished the race in 1:07:49, a 10:56 mile. I was #139 out of 211 and I'm pretty darn happy. Today I can hardly walk, but I'm online looking for my races to run. How did this happen to me?