Race Day

The morning began, after a mostly sleepless night due to my nerves and excitement, as a rather dreary looking day. I went about getting ready for the run, eating some breakfast, doing my hair, stretching my legs, lacing up my running shoes.

I pinned my race bib, #631 to my t-shirt. Made sure my iPOD was fully charged. Drank some water. I taped up my foot so as to prevent any blisters from forming. I put on my running shoes and laced them up. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like I was ready to run a race! So weird.

After 13 weeks of hard training going from not being able to run at all to heading out the door to run my first 10k I have come a long way!

Once I got to the race start area, I signed in, picked up my running chip to time my run and began to feel REALLY nervous. I saw two of the girls who I knew would be running with me and walked over to them and we began to chat about the race and how excited/nervous we all were. We were a mere 15 minutes away from the race start time. Then the rainy looking sky parted way and the sun began to shine through. What a beautiful day for a run!

Then my darling dearest Darla, my cheer leader, my best friend, and running coercer arrived. Camera in hand, she was ready to cheer us all on and take many, many, many pictures of our achievement.

We were lead in a group stretching exercise, and then all gathered near the starting line to await the starting horn.

HOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNKKKKK!

We were off, and I could feel the adrenalin coursing through my veins. I began to run, keeping at my pace and ignoring the people around me passing me like there was no tomorrow! :) I ran to my music, keeping my breathing in check. Then after only a few minutes of running, I hear my name being called, shrieked really, and I turn and look and it is Darla, driving in her car, hanging out the window shouting and waving at me, taking pictures. Yup, the paparazzi had arrived. She found me on a couple of occasions during the 10k route and took pictures. I will never forget however, when she found me at just past the 1/2 way mark after I had just run up a very loooooooong, granted gradual hill, and shouted at me from her car. She yelled, "Stacey!! I am so proud of you...so so proud!" That is when I realized that she was totally bawling! That's my girl. I continued to run, but found enough extra breath to tell her that I was dying. She smiled at me and encouraged me to keep running, that I was doing amazing! She is such an encouragement to me. So I did, I kept running.

Finally, as I had turned onto the last street and could see the finish line off in the distance, I saw Darla and another runner from the race, Laura jogging towards me. They met me when I was feeling like I wanted to die, I wanted to stop, I wanted to lay down in middle of the road and sleep. They ran beside me the last few meters, encouraging me the whole way. I also remember slowing my pace and wanting to walk for a few seconds and having Darla look at me and yell "KEEP RUNNING!! THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE WALKING ACROSS THAT FINISH LINE!!" Lol, way to keep me running. And so I did. I kept running and ran across that finish line signaling the completion to my first 10k race. The finish line time read 1hr39mins34secs as I ran across.

After crossing the finish line Darla began bawling again and we stood there, in the finishing chute, crying, sobbing, and hugging. I was given my medal for finishing the race. What an accomplishment!! I, Stacey, just ran a 10k race. Wow! I felt great! Tired, exhausted, sore, but great!!

So there you have it folks! I have now run a 10k race. And I will be running more of them, so stay tuned!

Long Road

Well, tomorrow is race day. Yup, that's right, 13 weeks in the making will culminate tomorrow as I run my first 10k ever! It has been a long road, but arrived faster than I thought!

When I look back to 13 weeks ago when the thought of running for even one minute seemed too daunting and nearly impossible, I realize just how far I have come. I have come from physically not being able to run for a mere minute without getting tired and winded, to now being able to run for an hour without needing to stop. From running a matter of meters before needing to stop, to running 7km without needing to stop. From hating every single second of every single run, to actually craving getting out for a run and enjoying my run while I am out there doing it.

How did this happen!? When did this change happen? I can't pinpoint a single moment but suddenly I am a runner. I am a hard core runner and have run during a hail storm, in the pouring rain and in the evening after a 12 hour shift. I am noticing how the running is helping me physically as well. I have muscles in my legs that I didn't know existed! I have lost pounds and inches and just feel generally healthier.

I have been asked by many people that if after my 10k run tomorrow I will stop running. NO! I am just beginning! When I accomplish running a 10k race, I will work towards running a 10k race faster! I will keep running because I like it, and because it is helping me get in better shape.

So I am forever thankful for my best friend Darla for "coercing" me into starting running. I still don't know how she managed to convince me, but I am so thankful she did. And tomorrow when I run across the finish line of my first 10k, I know she will be there waiting for me. Waiting to congratulate me, probably with tears in her eyes, because I know she is proud of me. And I am so proud of her! We have both accomplished something huge in training for this race.

So wish me luck tomorrow as I set off to complete my first 10k run ever!!