First 10K Race Done - Proud!

10K in 1:06:13 and 10:43 average pace.

Today I completed my first 10K race and I'm feeling really proud of myself! Proud not just because I completed the race and completed it in my all time best time, but also proud because I learned so much as I trained for the race:

• The beginning of an 8 week training plan feels fairly daunting at first, but somewhere along the way, maybe at weeks 5-6, it started feeling very comfortable. So comfortable in fact, that I began taking on longer runs than required for the once weekly long run.
• At first I was concerned with improving my pace. Veteran runners said, "For your first 10K, forget pace, it will take care of itself." As I look back at my pace for each run in my training schedule, I can see that I gradually improved it, regardless of the distance run! That's incredible to me. It almost feels like my brain and body remembers that I can comfortably do the pace I did last time, and improve on it just a little. 
• I need to remember that long runs are serious business for my body. One particularly humbling experience where I had plummeting BP and Heart Rate and needed an ambulance called, made me realize that food and hydration before the run and during the run are important. As is adequate cool down after the run.
• Instead of running the same courses over and over, it makes it a lot more fun to vary the course, and try to finish it at my local cafe! I run for my cappuccinos now!
• I'm still mulling how I feel about "racing". I run to be in a peaceful, happy and spiritually grounded place, and I'm not sure that I need to race to achieve that. In fact, the first time I raced in a 5K, although it felt good to finish it, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. This time around, I enjoyed the race much more, was more able to block out the impact of faster paced runners on my energy, and race for me.
• It's really fun to do this with someone else. Today I ran with a good widow friend, and although we live too far away to train together, it was great watching her progress, hanging out at the start, lunching after the race and sharing the experience of it together. It really helped make it a lot more fun for me.