Post Bohicket 10K

What was I thinking? Why in the world did I think that it was going to be a good idea to sign up for a 10K when I have never actually run more than 4 consecutive miles in my entire life?

It all came down to the fact that the weather looked great for running, I knew the course was going to be completely flat, and it was pretty much now or never. It was just running two 5Ks back to back, right? How hard could that be?

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I spent the majority of the race convincing myself I could run to my next "goal".

You've been running 2.5 miles at the gym this week - you can at least make it to 2.5 miles.

You've successfully run a 5K without stopping before - you can make it to the 3.1 mile mark.

You ran 4 miles back in November without stopping - you can make it to the 4 mile mark.

You made it to the 4 mile mark? Dude. That's pretty much 3/4 of the race! You can do it!

Note to self: don't do math while running. There's 1/3 of the race left, not 1/4.

Hey! Mile marker #5! ONE MILE LEFT! One mile is nothing!

Ugh, seriously, don't do math while running. 1.2 miles left.

But wanna know what really convinced me to keep running and not stop to walk?

I'm too competitive for my own good, even when I'm only competing with myself. I had made it that far in the race without stopping... I wasn't going to stop to walk with less than half a mile to go. There was no way I was giving up at that point.

I completely understand now what people mean when they say that running is just as much mental as it is physical.

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& now I can say that not only did I compete in a 10K, but I ran the whole thing from start to finish.

I was also extremely happy with my time.

Wanna know the best part?

I placed 3rd in my age group!

Now... what to sign up for next?