A Brief History of My First 10k

That. Was. Great.

My first 10k in the books and it was awesome. I beat my target time (1:10) by at least a couple minutes, so I was really happy with that. I'll get my official time later, but it was 1:07ish on my watch. Nice.

Last night it snowed, so I was ready for it to be cold and windy today. At the start of the race, it wasn't really that bad. About 35 and a little windy, overcast and a couple sprinkles. It was actually really great weather for running and I took my glove and hat off about halfway through. After the race, I was freaking cold (as were the people who came to watch me!), though. I think it actually got colder and windier.

The pre-race stuff was pretty uneventful. I got there early and secured a close parking spot and then I just walked around for a while to warm-up. I did some stretching and listened to the BS Report (Bill Simmons) which was funny.

The race itself went really well. iPod playlist: Started with "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot, then listened to the Two Gomers Rewind podcast for the majority of the run. With about a mile or so to go it was "Do Not Move" by David Crowder Band (perfect song, made me laugh because of the name and pumped me up because it's so awesome), then a little "This Is Your Life" (Switchfoot) before I skipped to Dashboard's Confessional's "Reason to Believe," my standard finishing song. Really satisfying playlist.

I ran the first mile under 10 minutes, which I knew was too fast, so I slowed down a touch. Had a good 11 minute per mile pace going (a little less, I think) for the rest of the race and really never had the urge to walk until mile 6 when we were greeted with a big hill. I walked for about a minute to catch my breath and conserve a little energy for a big finish, which worked well.

I had a bunch of fans cheering me on at the finish line, which was super nice. My wife and kids were there as well as my in-laws and sister-in-law and my dad and step-mom. It meant a lot to me that they'd brave the cold and wind to be there.

Once we got home, I took an ice bath, of course. It felt super good. Except my feet kept cramping up. That was annoying. Know what else was annoying? I was super excited to eat a double deluxe from Culver's for lunch, except...it's Thanksgiving. They were closed. Dangit.

Ok...so this was more of a "just get it out on 'paper'" recap. I'm going t write something more reflective later. Kind of wrap things up with a pretty bow on top.

Thanks so much for everybody's support and encouragement! It's been such a blast to experience this with you!

Ryan