Guess who got SECOND PLACE in their age group on their first race?

This girl!!!

I wanted to wait to get my results before I did a recap, so here we are!

I was checking the website like a mad woman waiting for the results to pop up. Finally, they did and I was very pleased and surprised.

I knew I did a good job, but I wasn’t expecting to get 2nd in my age group.

Out of everyone, men and any age, I came in 91st. Out of 400 something people.

Official Time- 25:06:00

Average Speed- 8:06/M

I’ll definitely take it:)

The night before, I actually did not sleep too well. I was having trouble falling asleep and only got about 5 & 1/2 – 6 hours of total sleep.

Once my alarm went off, I ended up being fine. I wasn’t sure if it was a great idea to have coffee beforehand because it could be rough on my stomach, but I knew I could not handle going without.

Obviously, I was still excited. I wasn’t nervous in the least because I told myself it was just for fun. I wore the shirt they gave me like a nerd.

After forcing some food down my throat, I was ready to go.

We couldn’t get enough pictures, as you can see.

We ventured out and finally arrived at our destination. I noticed other people being cool and wearing their shirts too.

After parking, I saw people warming up and thought it would probably be a good idea if I did so too.

I did short jog followed by some stretching. Of course, I had to use the restroom but there was only one port-a-potty.

The line was SO long. It wasn’t moving at all so I said forget it. Bad idea.

One of my mom’s co-workers was running the race as well, so we met up and chatted for a while before the race.

It was getting closer to start time, and I still wasn’t nervous. My mom took some scary candid pictures of me that I won’t show you all, thankyouverymuch:)

Finally, it was time to start. They called the “fastest people” up to the very front, and then told us to start filling in with walkers in the back.

I ended up not too far from the front, but not right up there either.

This was when I started to get nervous. There were tons of people and I just kept thinking about how I would do.

I am a competitive person by nature, so I knew that this race wasn’t “just for fun”. It’s just not my style.

The countdown began, and before I knew it, the horn blared and I was off.

It was a little slow getting across the start line, but once I crossed the line, I was high on adrenaline.

It was a cool morning, PERFECT running weather. In the 70s and sunny but not too sunny.

I couldn’t stop smiling. People probably though I was a weirdo.

I just kept thinking to myself how much I loved this already and it’s only been two seconds, why haven’t I raced before?, and a bunch of other random stuff you think about while running.

The course was right by the water and through a nice little neighborhood, so I had a nice view to look at.

I looked down at my Garmin and saw 8:11. WTF? That is fast for me so I was ecstatic.

I thought maybe I should slow down, but I told myself it is only three miles so I’m just going to go and let my body decide what was right.

Apparently, my body wanted speed, so that is what it got.

I couldn’t help myself but keep looking at my watch. Not to see the mileage, I didn’t want to look at that, but to see my speed.

It kept dipping down into the 7 minute miles and I was even more excited. It didn’t feel hard at all, it honestly felt natural.

I wasn’t out of breath, nothing hurt, my stomach was cooperating. I decided to screw running for fun, it’s all or nothing. That’s more like myself.

I weaved in and out of people, passed a bunch, and tried to keep up with the runners that have been running for a while and were pretty fast. I just tagged along behind them.

The first two miles flew by. The last mile was right on the water but it felt longer the the first two.

I slowed down a little bit, but still kept a pretty steady pace. I was still passing people, and still going strong.

I decided all I cared about was sprinting at the end through the finish line.

If that meant slowing down a bit now, then fine. But I wanted to give 150% at the very end and finish with a bang.

At this point in time, I got a cramp in my right side. I never usually get cramps on runs so I wasn’t sure why. I also had to pee in the worst way.

I cursed myself for not waiting to go to the bathroom. I also thought I would’ve probably been able to run faster if I had an empty bladder.

Nothing I could do about it now. Volunteers were passing out water along the course and I did not want to stop or drink water. That’s the last thing I wanted right now.

I kept running along and figured the faster I finished, the faster I could pee. Silly, but true.

I looked down at my Garmin again and saw I only had a half a mile left. Once I saw my Garmin hit 2.80, I said to just go for it.

I sped up a bit and saw the turning point that went towards the finish line.

Not going to lie, I saw a huge camera so I thought I should try and smile for it. Luckily, my mom caught me in the act so I didn’t look too concentrated at this point, but I was.

I saw the finish line and decided just to give it my all and SPRINT.

That is exactly what I did.

I walked it off after I crossed, and still couldn’t stop smiling. My mom came over to me and gave me some water and a Gatorade.

I forgot to stop my Garmin, but I didn’t care. The fact that my best speed was 6:28, threw me over the top. I couldn’t believe it.

I made her walk with me so I could cool down and couldn’t believe how fast I ran. I fell in love with racing already.

The rest of the day, I pretty much only talked about the race. I was on cloud nine. Oh, endorphins. I definitely felt the runners high, and I loved it even more than usual that day.

I wasn’t even sure that was possible, but it was. I think I’m going to officially call myself a runner.

Have you ever run a race?

Do you ever feel the “runner’s high”?

How long do you warm-up before a run?

If you don’t run, do you ever want to run a race?

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