10 Miler

I figured I would write a review of the 10 miler I ran on Sunday. It was supposed to be my last race. At least my last running race. I am a huge fan of road races, especially the longer ones. I love the atmosphere. There is nothing like the high I get after completing a long race. It is hard to run 10 miles. But, it feels so good, like you have really accomplished something. I was a little intimidated by this race however. We had been out the night before and it was supposed to ran. We didn't set up a babysitter for the kids so my husband would have had to bring the kids. It was a point to point race so I drove to the finish, parked the car, and took the bus 10 miles south to the start. The internet said parking would be difficult after 6:00 a.m. so I wanted to make sure I got there in plenty of time to park, ride the bus, and drop off my bag before the start of the race. Since we live one hour away, I left at 4:30 a.m. for a race that started at 8:00 a.m. There was plenty of time for me to stand around for 2 hours before the race started. I thought I was going to be exhausted for my race, but it was fine. I met a lady who had parked her car in front of me on one of the side streets and we waled to the bus together. We chatted during the two hour wait we had and as it turns out even though we started at different places because we got separated dropping our bags off and using the restrooms we are within a minute of each others time. I also saw a former track athlete from my coaching days. She ran great! Oh, to be 27 and have time to devote to training. I am lucky to get three runs in a week! This afternoon, both my husband and I want to run and he needs to replace the faucet. Sounds like life to me! The race was so beautiful. It meandered along the river. It was overcast and foggy. It was humid as all get out! When I started it was down right cold. ditched my fleece after a mile. Ran with it around my waist for 9 miles. Yes, impressive for some reason the $3 fleece that I specifically wore to throw away somehow made it through the 10 miles and back into circulation in my wardrobe. My time improved by about 40 seconds per mile over last year's half marathon. For two days after this race, I was questioning my knee surgery and still am a little bit. But, I know I need to do it and to listen to my surgeon. It is just so hard when you love something so much and shouldn't do it. I know that long term it doesn't make sense to continue running. I can bike and find races and I am sure the friendships are similar. It is just unfamiliar and truly biking doesn't appeal to me that much. I would prefer to mountain bike and that is difficult where we live. Not too many mountains or trails for that matter. My run was great! I love to run, but I love my family too and to be sidelined while they hike, bike, and ski would kill me. So I have to be smart and make the right decisions long term!