10 Miles BABY!

And the first 'race' of the season is done. Here is my report

I woke up at 6 after an evening of watching the DC Roller Girls doing roller durby. Yes, Roller Durby. It was awesome.
And I woke up to rain. Yes rain. I was kind of hoping I would get a call from Kristin, Lauren, Rose, Jess, Charles.. someone asking if we were all still running. But no, no call so I started my routine. I went into this thinking of it as a long run, not a race. I got dressed in my smelly pullover (it was dirty but the best one for rain, it matched my outfit best, and I look good in green which is very important for the pictures), packed my fanny pack (it the special running one that holds a water bottle - NOT a typical tourist one!!), grabbed my safety pins for my race number and headed out. I had my knee braces, inhaler, Metro card and credit card for brunch after. My I.D. too, just in case.
Anyone notice what I missed... MY RACE CHIP!!! After all the issues with getting one yesterday, I totally for got to put it on my shoe. I made it down to the metro and was talking with this guy about how crazy it was to be up and running in the rain. I noticed his chip and realized I didn't have mine. There as no time to go back, so no official time for me. Dang!

I make it to the race start where it was cold and still raining. After some time we all found each other, took a few pre pictures, and were off about 10 minutes late. I will post pictures eventually, however I used a disposable and the official ones will take a few days.

Jess and I started together and said good by to the speedy ones. It was still cold, but stopped raining, then started again and was humid, stopped and was cold, started and was cold, etc. Not the best race weather but I will take that over HEAT any day. So Jess and I are moving along, mile by mile. I might have been pushing her just a bit, but she was great. After mile 5, Jess and I decided to go our own paces.

It was good for me to 'practice' being at the end and on my own. To not let the pressures of others during a race get to me, and just concentrate on putting one (wet) foot in front of the other. To watch the race people take down the mile marks and tear down the water stops, even though I was in front of the time cut off. I kept the pace I wanted to, walked when I planned, drank and had my Clif Shots when needed.

Overall, it was a great start to the race season for me. I finished strong and was happy with my time - even though it's not posted. My pain is limited and I know what I need to do for long runs (i.e. remember body glide).

Congrats to everyone who ran and finished!!