10K and then some running update

I realized the other day that I have so much to share with you, oh Internet world, about where I'm at with running.

About 3 weeks ago now I completed my first 10K race; Legs for Literacy. I had been training for this event for the whole 10-weeks of my 10K training clinic at the Running Room. It was a great event! There were a lot of runners participating in either the marathon, half-marathon, 10K or 5K runs. I can't remember how many runners, but the number 1200 stands out in my mind, so I think it was somewhere around there. It's such a powerful experience to be running with that many people; I think I could have ran another 5K on the energy and momentum from the group alone!

There were torrential rains the morning of the event, but surprisingly the weather cleared up for the run. Because of this rain, though, Greg and Asher did not come to cheer me on. I met up with my running friends, and stayed with most or some of them for the whole 10K. I actually found the first 5K pretty easy, and I think I had a little high after seeing my lovely friend Melanie volunteering at the 5K mark handing out drinks. She did a little shout out to me, and that kept me going strong. There were tons of people cheering the whole way along the side lines for friends or family, and I must say, it's so encouraging to have someone who you know cheer you on. Friends, WHEN I do that marathon some day, be prepared to be strategically placed to do just this!

The last 1.5K of Legs was pretty tough, and I had to talk an extra walk break because it was almost all UP hill. Even though I had done weeks of hill training, having a mother of a hill at the end of a race was pretty tough. But the point is, I MADE IT! My time was 1 hour 9 minutes and 13 seconds. Not too bad for my first 10K event.

Here's some photo's of the experience...

Getting all my gear laid out for the event:

My running buddy Nicole and I before leaving for the event:

A professional photography group, Marathon Photo's, was on-site and I found this picture of me running at about the 8K mark:

My clinic trainer has yet to email us the "after" picture, but atleast I have this event certificate to prove that I did finish:

I consider it a big accomplishment for me to go from couch to 10K in just 6 months! But the story is not over yet friends because I have now joined the half-marathon training clinic. I am 3 weeks into training for a HALF-MARATHON! It still sounds crazy to me to even say that. I'm going to run a half-marathon?!?!?! Wild. I haven't been as diligent as I would have liked with keeping up with the training schedule, but I'm still managing OK. Actually, the training schedule doesn't seem to be that difficult, except, you know, for the running 21.1K part. I have 13 more weeks to get ready for that though. 13 weeks. That should be no problem, I'm sure (I say as I try to convince myself...). I LOVE to run though, so that should carry me through.