HCA Virginia 8k

I did an 8k this morning! It was part of the Richmond Marathon. There's an 8k, Half Marathon and Full Marathon. I had intended to run this race, and I kept talking about it for a while, but I kept not having the money for the entrance fee. Thursday morning at the gym I really got hit with a case of race fever. I had been talking to my buddy who was running the marathon; it was her last workout before the race today, and there were a couple of other ladies who were doing the Half, and talking to all of them, it just really made me realize that I needed to do this; I knew if I didn't I would be really disappointed in myself so I went down to the expo that evening and signed up! I'm so glad there were still open spots! It was so hard to sit at work all day Friday with all of my excitement about the race!

I got up at five this morning and ate some peanut butter and banana on a slice of rye bread. I'm going to have to start having that for my breakfast before my morning workouts, it was very filling and sustaining! My race didn't start until seven, but I left my house at about ten to five because I was nervous about finding a place to park downtown. It was dark, rainy and I swear half the intersections downtown aren't labeled! I never did find the street I was looking for, which was supposed to have several open lots. I did find some street parking beside a library. There was a sign that said 30 minute parking from 8am to 6pm, but most of those only apply on weekdays. I was so frazzled by that point I didn't care! I figured the worst case is I'd get a ticket. It turned out to be a nice place to park, about halfway between the start and finish areas. I'm going to have to try and remember that for next year.

I got to my corral with about 20 minutes to spare- whew! And it started to rain! I'm so glad I wore this cheapo sweatshirt, it got soaked instead of me. I ditched it about a half mile or so in, it was so heavy the sleeves were hanging a few inches below my hands! They collect the discarded items at the end of the race and donate them to a homeless outreach. The rain stopped fairly early into the raced, and it would drizzle here and there, but nothing like it was at first. The misting like that was actually kind of refreshing and kept me from licking my lips! I had a hiccup with RunKeeper, so it thinks my first mile was a four minute mile-hilarious! My goal was to finish in 90 minutes.

I felt like I was keeping a pretty steady pace. Mile two felt like it flew by! Mile three was a little harder because parts of the street were fairly hilly. I was very happy to see the mile four sign! I realized, though, that I was actually feeling pretty good. My legs were feeling strong, my lungs were holding up and I was breathing hard, but not panting. Gimpy foot was still feeling good, too! The only problem I was really having was walking so long in wet socks, some of my toes have some minor blisters on them from it. And my toenails hurt. Sounds weird, I know, it happens sometimes on longer walks.

The last quarter mile or so is great. It's all down hill! I actually jogged that in off and on because the momentum just kind of grabs you. I was afraid to go too fast, though, because I didn't want to faceplant right at the very end! I crossed the line and got my medal feeling great! This was me about three or four minutes after the finish. I was so hot I was literally steaming!

I hung out and waited for my best friend Elizabeth to finish her race. She was running in the half. I had about an hour and a half to wait, but I had a really nice spot between the finish line and where they hand out the medals. It kind of rained intermittently, and I got SUPER cold after having been  there for so long. I ran across Elizabeth's husband, and we met her after she finished. We had some fruit and hung out for a few minutes before it was time to leave. She beat her time last year, I'm sooooo proud of her! What an inspiring friend to have in my life!

Elizabeth and I with our medals

I finished in 88:56! I'm so happy I beat the goal I set for myself! And of course, while you never know what would happen, doing the rough math I realized that I probably took a good ten minutes off of my 10k time from the spring! How amazing is that! And I really didn't train for this race. What a difference six months of consistent exercise makes in your life! I was so blown away when I realized that. I was right, this race was definitely the right decision to me to make! And by the way, I've been wearing my medal ALL day! Around the house, to PetCo and the grocery store! I did end up taking a nap for a little while after I showered. My quads are starting to feel the not-quite five miles and gimpy foot is getting stiff, so tomorrow morning might be interesting, however I am in worlds better shape than I was after the 10k. I'll take all the victories I can get!

It's not a great shot, but the best I can come up with right now. ;)

Thanks as always, for your support!