The Race

Mimosas for everyone!!! I finished my first 5k! :)

Like the Sexy Blonde mentioned (thanks for the updating! It took me awhile to get to it) I was very nervous this morning. It was weird, because I wasn't really nervous in my head - there was nothing specific that was bothering me (except maybe getting there on time and having someplace to park) but I was physically so anxious and my stomach was doing flip flops. I do get nervous when I do something unfamiliar, but that strong physical reaction isn't something that usually happens to me. So it was weird. But I had a banana and some peanut butter and hoped for the best.

We got to the park and I made Dude drop me off so I could go pick up my packet and he could go park the car. Of course, my line was the longest line, but still, I had plenty of time before the race started, it really couldn't have gone smoother. I stood close to another group of women and eavesdropped on them to find out how to attach my official race chip to my shoe (which was pretty easy because they just gave us these little zip tie things) and then I wandered around wondering how I was ever going to find Dude again. I had stupidly left my phone with him and there were a ton of people there. I was just starting to worry about having to start the race before finding him, but he and the Sexy Blonde walked right up just then. I was so glad to see them! And then! SB showed me the sign and I got all teary. But in a good way. :) It was awesome- so sweet! I was feeling much much better and less nervous by then because I had gotten where I was supposed to be and there wasn't anything left to do but run.

They started the 10 mile runners and then all of us 5k people got to line up. Taking the advice I had been given, I tried to start out towards the back, but there were a lot of walkers there too. I tried to get in front of the walkers, but I still had to go around a bunch of them at the start line. Sheesh! Amateurs! ;)

I am in the black hat in the middle there- don't I look thrilled?

The first half mile seemed to take a long time, but once I got there, things seemed to go a lot faster. I got to the one mile mark right at the pace I wanted to (13 minutes) so that was a good boost. We had beautiful weather and the course was really nice, flat and very scenic. I was just past the one mile mark when the first runner was already coming back - holy crap she was fast! I took Kashka's advice and tried to talk to other runners along the way and I am glad I did. Even if it was just "hey, looking good" you could tell it perked them up a little and they usually said something nice back.

I did end up walking twice, once at a mile, and once at 2 miles, but only for 1 minute each time. The last mile went surprisingly fast. I knew that after the bridge, the finish line was just ahead, and then I heard Sexy Blonde yell "WOOO HOOO!!!" - I swear I heard her cheering before I could even see her. So I was honestly laughing and running at the same time. I was having fun, while running at the same time. I don't know how in the world that happened! I was grinning as I got across the finish line. It was an amazing start to the day.

SB had champagne in her car for me (she is a seasoned race supporter, I have to say!) and I was completely giddy. I could have maybe pushed a little harder at the end, (I'm sure all runners think that after a run) but I really just wanted to finish and I was entirely happy with my time.

Preliminary Results:
Allknowingjen
Age 34
Bib Number
1061
Overall Place
196 out of 307
Finish Time
0:41:04
Mile Pace
13:13/mile

The average mile pace for everyone was 12:42, so I was nowhere near the slowest. My mind isn't quite convinced yet that this all really happened, but I have the t-shirt to prove it. (Kashka- it's a fancy tech shirt!)