I DID IT!!!

Thanks everyone who checked to make sure I was still alive after the race yesterday. God was so good to me for my first race! We had gorgeous fall weather, and I made it through the 6.5 miles (I know that a 10K is 6.2 miles, but this was 6.5 for some reason) without stopping. In fact, I felt like I could keep going!

Pamela, me, Ashley

On Saturday night before race day, Nathan and I went to Adam and Ashley's at had a fabulous dinner. Ashley made a delicious baked ziti, salad, and bread, and a fabulous dessert of home made granola, hand picked local blackberries, creme fraiche, and chocolate shavings. I chugged a lot of water too, so much that I went to the bathroom twice at her house, twice again before bed, and twice in the middle of the night. I wanted to make sure I was properly hydrated.


While at their house, Nathan decided that he would run the race too. Yes, the night before. Cullen was running along with Pamela, Ashley, and me, and Nathan said he didn't want to be the fat guy at the finish line with the camera around his neck eating bon bons.


We arrived at the cricket club and signed up. There weren't too many people there - maybe 80-100 runners at most - which seemed a really nice size to me. Most of them were in their official running club jerseys and taking warm up laps around the cricket pitch. We Americans decided that the first mile of the race would be our warm up, and the last mile would be our cool down. No excessive exercise here.

Cullen and the girls

At the starting line, the guy with the whistle directed us to have a minute of silence in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks. I really appreciated that.


The whistle blew and we were off through the tall grass in a field. It wasn't three minutes later that Ashley, Nathan, and I were left in the dust by the running clubbers, along with the super fit former University of Georgia athletes Cullen (wrestling) and Pamela (soccer). We quickly figured out that this was not a "fun run" with dogs and baby strollers. This was a serious run. We didn't see anyone ahead of us for the rest of the race. There was one woman we passed about five minutes into things, who I admired immensely for even attempting the race. 


The course was really well marked and well manned. There was even a guy who had the job of keeping cows away from runners. One woman had cups of water for people out of the back of her van halfway through the race. We ran on trails through all kinds of scenery: classic English countryside with sheep, fields of grass, dense forest, a golf course, around ponds with fountains and shimmering lakes, through a neatly manicured park... It was really gorgeous. Some parts were muddy, and on the highest points of the course it was quite windy, but I really enjoyed the whole thing. The scenery was a great distraction.


Praise be to God, there wasn't any point where I thought, "I can't do this." I was kind of saving that thought for the worst part of the course. And, since I'd never been on the course, I didn't know where the worst part was exactly, so I didn't have to think it. Having Nathan behind me and Ashley ahead of me was a huge blessing. Ashley said, "If you get tired, start writing your blog post about the race in your head." Nathan carried my juice and would pat me on the back every once in a while and tell me he was so proud of me. It was awesome. 

Are you really surprised?

Nathan asked if we could hold hands across the finish line, so we did - tied for second-to-last. Which is better than last. Which is better than "did not finish." Which is better than "did not start." Frankly, I'm more proud of myself for starting the journey to fitness and sticking with it than for finishing this one race. 


When the path was wide enough at some points, the three of us would run side by side by side and talk. Ashley and I decided to plan a 5K Turkey Trot Thanksgiving weekend. We'll make our own course and invite friends to run off our big meals. And maybe we'll have a Jingle Bell Jog around Christmas. I'm kind of excited about that one too. Now that I've run a 10K+, I have to keep up my fitness. I am tired of starting over, so I guess that means I have to stop quitting. 

Sedgefield Serpentine Race Runners, extraordinaire!

Anyway, with everyone running, we didn't get any pictures crossing the finish line, but we took the ones above before and this one of Ashley and me after. You'll know it's after because my face is really red.

We did it!

If I can do it with God's help, anyone can.