I DID IT...

I completed my first 10k Race on Saturday in 1:07:43 

(knocking 5.03 minutes on my previous time)

The race was hard, when I arrived at the venue, I felt completely overwhelmed, like I didn't belong there but Rafal calmed me down, but I didn't relax - its was strange as I had been so excited and the night before I had a nightmare that I came last and now I was worrying about it all.  

I made quite a lot of mistakes, which I am angry at myself about, I started the race to close to the starting line, which meant I had to run too fast at the start and also people where pushing me to get past - I ran too fast for the 1.2ks which meant I was overheating and couldn't catch my breathe - I had to stop and remove a layer of clothing (I lost 3/4 minutes of time) and by the time I was ready to run again I was last - my nightmare was coming true.  

I did struggle for some of the race and didn't have a drink with me (there was only one water station and that was at the 8k mark) but I managed to get past 4 people and finally finished the race beating my previous time by five minutes - my name and number was announced as I crossed the line and the crowd cheered - most of all Rafal was standing at the finish line waiting for me with my medal - I have never been so happy to see him.

Rafal actually spent the race driving to different points of the route to cheer me on and give me support, I couldnt have done it without him, also my mother-in-law and brother-in-law both went out on the street to support me... Having people there that care about you really helps and I am so grateful to them.  And the funny thing, all the pain I felt running was completely gone when I finished - now training for the next 10k in two weeks time.

                          

 

Thank you all for the kind words of support :)...