… I fell in love with running races.

The reason I signed up for this 10k in the first place was to prove to myself that I could run races after the doctors told me earlier this year it may not be a possibility.

And run them I can!

There are no pictures of me pre or post race as I was house sitting for a friend this past weekend and was way too groggy the morning of (note to self and other runners: don’t turn off your alarm on accident at 5:15 when it first goes off) the race to attempt a camera photo.

I wanted to get downtown early to avoid any traffic thanks to all the construction plus streets closed for the race, so I arrived around 7:15 am, walked around the mini expo, scored some Vitamin Water, stretched, and did some people watching since most people did dress up in Halloween costumes.

I meandered over to the start line about 7:45 am, positioned myself in between the 9/10 minute milers, and before I knew it, we were off. Well, sort of. It took three minutes for me to get to the start line thanks to the 4000+ people participating in the race.

The first two miles I kept pace with some of the 9 minute miler girls until one of the long, gradual, seemed like it was never going to end hills, at which point I decided that my knee would want me to chill out a little bit since hills are like its kryptonite. I slowed down a bit at the 5k mark at which point it was about 32:30, grabbed some powerade at the hydration station, and stretched out my quads a little. My knee was starting to protest a bit, so I finished out the mile and once I hit 4 miles I walked and stretched out the quads one more time until the 4.2 sign that a spectator was holding up.

That’s when I decided that there would be no more walking.

I started thinking about how I honestly never thought I’d be able to run more than two miles at a time thanks to my knee injury. About how I was accomplishing one my 30 Before 30 Goals. About my dear friends who ran 26.2 the weekend prior and how if they could do that I could surely run another 2 miles without stopping. I thought about how I wanted to be able to tell everyone I did the best I could, ran as fast as I could and be able to call a few special people after with glee in my voice instead of disappointment.

And so I did it.

I conquered the hills that stood in my way (and boy were there a lot of them), saw the finish line , conquered another hill (seeing the finish line was a cruel trick; we still had another out and back to do), gave high-fives to the little kids who were hanging out on the sidewalks, and then at the 5.9 mile mark I sprinted the last 3/10 of the race.

I finished in 67:05; average time for race finishers was 65:05.

I have to say that all in all I am incredibly pleased with my performance since my three goals were: 1) to finish 2) walk as little as possible and 3) if I did have to walk, finish in 80 minutes. If I didn’t have to walk, finish in 72 minutes. All goals accomplished. I must also confess that the last few weeks of training my long training runs fell off my radar thanks to finish my MBA and that pesky thing called life.

A lot of people have asked me what’s next and the short answer: More 5ks and 10ks. As much as I’d love to run a half marathon I know my knee won’t tolerate it. I plan to sign up for a few 5ks that are in St. Louis later this year and find another 10k early next year.

For now, though, I’m on a total race running high.

(And of course, a special thanks to everyone who shared tips, training plans, asked about the race, and sent me well wishes, texts and positive vibes the day of the race!)

(The winner of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Giveaway is Leesh from The Blarkness Chronicles! Congratulations; I’ll contact you for your mailing address today. Thanks to everyone who entered and stay tuned for another giveaway soon.)