Sunday Running....

This afternoon Ben and I ventured out to downtown Raleigh for the Old Reliable 10k. Ben decided not to run and would just watch me this one time. While I was a little lonely at the start line waiting to get going, it sure was nice to have my own cheerleader and personal photographer. The weather was awesome and it was pretty warm in the sun.

I thought I'd have a really good run today and through the first mile, which circled the block and brought you back over the start line, all was good. I was running at my usual pace, but by the time I got to mile 3 I had developed the most horrible side cramp. I tried everything while running to subside it and nothing seemed to work. I ended up stopping 3 times! By mile 3.5 when I turned onto Dixie Trail and saw Anna and Dan cheering for me from their house, I decided to suck it up and keep running no matter what. I was so happy to see them cheering and it was just what I need too keep going. By mile 4.5 I was feeling good again and the cramp was gone. The last 2.7 miles were easy peasy...I was feeling good, had tons of energy and NO PAIN! My final time was around 1:05 and while that was my goal, knowing I could have maybe shaved off a few more minutes was slightly disappointed. But at that point I was just happy to finish considering how I felt halfway through the race. But, I'm so mad I forgot to turn off my Nike +, which was off anyways and recorded 6.8 miles at 1:16, which made my overal pace over 11 minutes per mile. I'm just a stickler like that.

For a local race, it was a good course and I'd do it again next year. The course was relatively flat and I liked how you circled back through the start/finishe line to see family and friends. Now I start a 12 week training program for the Myrtle Beach half marathon. I'm heading to our gym to sign up for a membership to get in some good runs and workouts during the long winter weeks.

Today I'm thankful for:

~Running tights: So comfy to run in and stay in place!

~Friends and family who cheered me on just when I needed it most!

~The awesome fall weather that made my "good" miles enjoyable.

During my hour running when I wasn't thinking about how bad my cramp was, I was totally coming up with things I was grateful for....I love thinking while running.