10K fun and Confidence Boost

Boo! Run for Life 10k

About a month ago my dear friend Tamara asked if I was willing to run a 10k with her. She is currently 5 months pregnant and had trouble running through the summer heat, but she found her stride again and totally missed racing! I wholeheartedly supported this and found us a race in mere seconds.

After taking 3 weeks off of running and setting a PR last week in the Army I was approaching this race as a fun run--Tamara, her husband Stuart and our friend Michelle were all ready to just enjoy a beautiful fall run along West Potomac Park and Haines Point. We all set off at our own pace--Stuart was a bit quicker than me this morning, but I didn't mind running alone. It was peaceful and I got a lot of thinking done. Mile 4 and 5 where tough mentally--i could've used some tunes, but just kept my stride and pushed on. Mile 5.5-6.2 I tried to kick in the speedy rockets, but alas, the hamstring was stuck in one gear today. I finished, I thought, somewhere around 52:00 min and due to a lack of math skills thought this was a mediocre time.

Much to my surprise I looked to see if results were posted this afternoon. I set a PR (ok, i haven't run that many 10ks so not a shocker), but I ran it in 50:24. My average pace was 8:07 for six miles...I've only ever run this fast for a few 5k's. This is almost a minute faster than my average pace for the Army 10! And I thought I was just poking a long....nope. I finished 9/67 in my age group and 44/327 for women overall.

Michelle ran a PR as well. Yea! Tamara and Baby M struggled a bit, but they had quite the support group cheering them on! We circled back to finish with them and Baby M finished mere nanoseconds before Mom, and both felt good after the race! Baby M even had her own number #740! Too darn cute!

My last post I was clearly in my "girl box" (i'll save this for a later post) struggling with self esteem, confidence, and unrealistic expectations of myself. This was a confidence boost. I may not love what the scale says, or how my jeans fit, but I love surprising myself, running with amazingly supportive friends, feeling like jello afterward and knowing that you did more before 9am than most in the city! I've made a lifelong commitment to fitness, I'm working on that commitment for my relationship with food and that is something to be proud of. I have a strong and healthy body. It may not be ideal one I have in my head, but its the only one I got.
I love that it is fast, strong, and flexible and always ready for the next test. It may not be the model body for designer jeans or even athletic wear, but after years of hating it, I am learning to love it and what it is capable of.