My First 10K Race: DONE

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’ve kind of gotten back into running in the last few months. More so than ever before, really. Earlier today I finished my first actual 10K (about 6.21 miles) race and had a great experience. There were a LOT of people there. I finished in 54 minutes and 59 seconds (8:51 per mile), which placed me in 108th place total and 20th place in my age bracket. Not trophy winning, but that’s not what I was aiming for. I finished without walking (or lying down, for that matter) and I’m pretty happy with that pace; I’ll try to kick it up next year.

Sam, Mandy, and Geralyn came down to see me after the race as well and they even surprised me with some pretty awesome signs. Though I actually didn’t see the signs until after I finished the race, at which point the advice they gave was a bit inappropriate. But it was still great! Here’s some pics!

Instead of writing up a big long post about the race itself, here’s some bullet points in stream-of-consciousness style:

• I listened to music during the run and had my Nike+ track the kilometers. That did a lot to break up the monotony, but apparently the randomization algorithm in my iPod thought that Black Eyed Peas was the most motivating music available.
• The best thing about the race: periodically there are these tables where guys hand you paper cups of water –then you can totally just THROW THE CUPS DOWN ON THE GROUND! Being a runner means you get to litter!
• Mile 2: Oh, god, oatmeal burps. Yeaugh.
• Passing people is invigorating.
• Getting passed is emasculating.
• Mile 4: Broke through a wall and just ran on autopilot the rest of the time. Almost easy from here on out.
• There was this guy in front of me for most of the race I came to think of as “Daddy Long Legs.” Because he ran the whole 10K pushing a double jogger stroller with two kids in it. Impressive.
• Thinking that the asperin I took just prior to the race was a good call.
• Wow, there are a lot of really toned legs.
• Mile 5: There was totally a huge and dead racoon lying right in front of the mile marker. Oookaaay.
• Waving at people standing on the side of the road and cheering you on is more awesome than you’d think.
• Knowing what I know about crowd psychology doesn’t make me feel particularly confident about just following everyone else when some of the trail markers went missing. Worked out, though.
• Mile 6: Tried to do the exact math to figure out how much distance was left. Failed.
• Finish line: Woo! Free Vitamin Water(tm)!

I’ve got a 5K in June, but I’m already setting my sights on a half-marathon, possibly as early as October of this year. We’ll see…