10K

Isn't there a saying that goes, "If the porta-potty is a rockin'....."?

I began my 10K race with a stop at the porta-potties. I was in line about 50 people deep with 10 minutes to race time. When I finally reached the bathroom mecca, aka a green-colored porta-potty, I was in a big time hurry. Closing the door securely behind me, I tried to quickly do my business, but found that the entire structure was rocking back and forth. In order to not make a mess of myself, I had to rock back and forth with it. After that balancing act, I was ready to go.

There were two parts to this race--a 10K and a 20 miler. The toned leg muscles, matching running outfits, and rubber belts lined with small water bottles let me know that I was in a different league than the 5K that I did in July. These were Runners--capital R. To help me get in the Running mindset, I slammed some kind of exercise-specific Jelly Bellies. They were delish and the energy started coursing through my veins right away.

I wasn't at the starting line for very long before the bullhorn sounded and I was off. The beginning part was an interesting mess of jockeying for position; changing speed to get around someone, moving to the outside lane, then cutting someone off. After a while, though, I found a pace that I could stick with and the crowd started to thin out.

Every time I hit a mile marker I thought to myself, "I feel great...must be the Jelly Bellies." Before the race started I gave myself permission to stop and walk any time that I needed to. As I was running, though, it didn't even occur to me to stop. I just kept going.

I passed people, I was passed. The finish line came quicker than I expected and I was glad to see my ending time of 58 min. 44 sec. That put me at about a 9 min 30 sec pace for the whole race--a personal best. Although I wasn't doing the race for the sake of competition, just for the sake of completion, I was still pleased with how it went. The official results aren't out yet--I'll update when they are posted.

Pics to follow....