Mission Accomplished: 10K

I woke up this morning with the sun shining through the wind and a cool breeze causing our curtains to flutter and just knew it would be a good day. And it was. It really, really was. We drove into the city with Chris's parents (his mom was my running buddy) and everything we very smoothly. We got our numbers, put our timing chips in our shoes, got our freebies, checked our bags and then headed over to the warm-up. The warm-up was great because it was coooold this morning! It also reminded me why I like running better than aerobics classes- too much coordination needed for that.

They started seeding around 11:30, precisely when I realized I needed to go to the bathroom again. So we waited in a long line that seemed to not be moving. Finally, when we were second from the front, we saw the race start moving, so I freaked out and decided to just hold it. We made it up to Beacon St in time (people we just moving in closer, not running yet). Waiting for the start was amazing- so many women in one place.

The buzzer started us and it took about five minutes to reach the start line. Once we did things picked up a bit, but it was hard to stay calm because it was packed. It took until about mile 2 to feel like I was really going at a good pace. The entire race was filled with passing people and watching out for people's feet in front of you.

Overall, I felt awesome. All the training really paid off and I was able to finish right around my goal time and didn't feel dead. Chris's mom was a great running partner and very helpful motivator.

The course was breath-taking. I really wish I could've carried a camera without it being a nuisance. We ran over the Longfellow Bridge (or Salt&Pepper) and then along Memorial Drive down to the BU Bridge. There we doubled back to the Mass Ave bridge and ran across. This whole part had amazing skyline views. The race finished back at Boston Commons.

I really could not have asked for the day to have gone better. It was a really incredible experience. I'm sure we'll do it again next year and we're even hoping to do a half-marathon in November.