I'm back from my nap!
So - was the 10k awesome? Nope. It was wet, it was cold and it was really slippery. But I sucked it up and ended up ditching my poncho around .5 into the race and just decided to run my race. I couldn't do anything about the weather - and, really, what would a true challenge be without a little adversity?
Was the race easy? Oh, heck no. I probably should've walked more than I did, but I wanted to keep going, to keep moving faster and to make sure my overall pace never got close to 16:00/mm.
I was also REALLY paranoid about falling, so I was trying to watch my footing. I kinda choked up when I saw what I assumed to be the last sweeper bus before we went under Test Track and into EPCOT. Not that it really mattered, as I never even caught a glimpse of the balloon ladies on the overpass portion of the out-and-back to start the race.
We hit the World Showcase and I kinda had this epiphany. I knew I could do it - not just the 10k, but all of it. If I were to fall, I'd just get up and keep going. I wasn't going to get swept - not today, and not any day. I stopped for a couple of selfies around the World Showcase and then we were on our way to Boardwalk. I hit that boardwalk and it was like something just took over - and I was off like a canon. I felt like I was PacMan (I know - I said yesterday I felt like I was Secretariat, so just bear with me). Crossed back into EPCOT, took a short walk break under the breezeway by MouseGears and then sped it back up including what felt like a dead sprint on the straightaway across the finish line.
That last mile? According to my watch, it was my fastest ever at 9:03. WHAT THE. I knew I was kicking hard for most of it, but I had no idea it was that fast (I only have pace alerts set up for above 14:00/mm paced miles, not for really anything below that.
And currently, as I sit here, I feel just awesome. 9.3 down, 39.3 to go!
