"I run like a girl"

That's me, no. 8338!

So, in case you haven't heard me mention it about 5 million times, I ran my first 10K race the other day (and lived to share the story with you!) It was awesome. I felt great (most of the time... towards the end there my feet were really starting to hurt...) and the weather was good and everything about it was just so exciting and empowering! I did it! Me. I ran 10 km (with only the teensiest bit of walking, like maybe 6 or 7 minutes in total)! As promised, here are a few photos to prove it to you, and maybe a little bit to myself as well.

Here I am at 6 am, getting ready to leave for downtown. Sleepy, but excited.

My lovely and fabulous sister came down to cheer me on, and even got there early enough to see me to the start line! Here I am a few minutes before the race began.

I'd rather not show you the picture she took of me at the end. More than a little bit sweaty, and really rather emotional! It was so great though, when I passed that 9K mark and knew I was almost there. When the Doctor Who theme music came on as I rounded the final curve (wow! talk about perfect timing, Alan! he made my playlist for me... wasn't that sweet?) and I could see Amanda and Thomas cheering me on. I was overcome with emotion and pride. I did it!

I crossed the finish line a minute or so later, with a final time of 1:18:41. If anyone had told me a year ago that I'd be running in the country's second largest 10K race I would have laughed. I'm not laughing now. I'm grinning ear to ear. And planning how I'm going to do it again next year in closer to an hour...

PS: The title of this post comes from this awesome shirt, which I am so getting for next year's race.