Second 10k of the year - done!

Today was my 10k run, and it was my 2nd time participating in this particular one. I felt about as prepared as I could be, but I was still a bit nervous and apprehensive. I got a good night of sleep on Friday, but last night I tossed and turned. Same as last year. I couldn’t get my mind to shut the heck up and calm down. I kept telling myself that I needed sleep, and finally it came. I probably got about 4-5 hours, which is a bit better than last time.

Our bus met at 6:15, and we left shortly thereafter. The frustrating thing about taking the bus in is that you arrive downtown so stinking early. I guess there’s a reason behind all that, but it does get pretty boring sitting around the hotel with nothing to do for almost 2 hours. Ah well. I ran into a few people I hadn’t seen in ages, which was pretty cool.

One of my running buddies spotted someone she recognized, and she waved and said hello, and he responded back. It was only after he had passed her that she realized the reason she recognized him was because it was the Premier of BC. LOL. She felt pretty ridiculous after that, and we all had a good chuckle. I assumed she knew him, because I’m not the type to randomly wave and say hi to politicians.

The weather was absolutely perfect for the run, which was great. It was cloudy and a bit chilly, with a slight breeze, which was just the way I like it. Not too cold, but not too warm either. I wouldn’t have minded if it had rained a little bit, but it never did.

Here's two pics of me and my running buddies:





I didn’t take any pictures during the run, as I was obviously in the zone, and not wanting to get put off my pace. I managed to not make the same mistakes as I did last year, and overall thought the run went very well.

However, by 9.5km, I was really hurting. I had a major stitch across my entire stomach, I could barely breathe, my ankles were killing me, and my heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. Not good. I kept pushing myself harder and harder, because I wanted to get across that finish line as fast as I could. When I finally made it over, a medic approached me right away because I almost collapsed, my face was a deep shade of red, and I was gasping for breath. He pulled me over to the side, got me some water, and I told him I was fine - I just needed to catch my breath. A few minutes later I was fine and could limp away. I’d used up too much of my energy at the beginning of the run, so the last little bit was really a struggle. Again, another lesson I’ve learned, and a mistake I won’t be making again.

I was feeling very ill for a few hours afterward, and it probably didn’t help that I had a couple of jello shooters and a bunch of champagne when our group met up to get back on our bus. Ah well, you have to celebrate the accomplishment!

When I got home, I looked up my time online, as I hadn’t kept track while running. I was surprised to see my time up there already. Presuming that is the correct time, I did the run in 1:33:06, which is a grand total of 45 seconds faster than my time for last year! So awesome! I was hoping to be a bit faster, so I was a little disappointed at first, but I am so proud of myself that I completed it again, and managed to be faster. Next year is just going to be even better!