My first distance race! And, YES, I define 6.2 miles as distance considering I used to think anything beyond a mile was absurd! Even though I have done 8 miles in training at this point, finishing this race was a huge feeling of accomplishment. While I was pretty calm at the start, the questions were running through my head, Can I keep the pace I want, not go out too fast and gas at the end, not have to walk....all the standard questions. Short answer, yes! (Which is what I mentally screamed out as I crossed the finish line.)
And almost more important than the distance to me - I broke through a HUGE mental block. All through the race each time we hit a hill (and there were a lot of them) there would be someone near me cursing or complaining.... and it was such a realization that they weren't bothering me at all! In one of the books I read, it mentions something to the effect of, 'treat a hill as a nice change of pace where you get to break the monotony of the flats and use different muscles.' When I read it, I thought, "Yeah right, I'm running hills in training and they're just...miserable." I have been petrified of hills in a race (and if I had looked into this course a little more beforehand, I might have skipped it as my first 10K.) But yesterday, that quote is really how I felt, and that was a huge weight off my chest. To find out that training works (Thanks Hal!) is just such a great feeling! Now THAT'S motivation!
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