Cow Harbor Race, my first 10K.

Yes! I ran my first 10K on Saturday, Sept. 25th! I was especially happy to have Glenn drive me to the race because I was just a bit anxious. I couldn't believe that I had actually gone through with registering for this race. Although I had run over 6 miles before running it in a race seemed so daunting. I got a pretty decent rest the night before so waking up at 5:30am wasn't too bad.
We got to Northport with plenty of time to spare; picked up my number said goodbye to Glenn and headed off to wait for the start. There were probably more porta-potties than I have ever seen in one place; but I soon found out that it's a necessary part of running races....the lines moved fast considering they were very long. Runners don't waste time! It was a friendly crowd and lots of people chatted with me. Usually at races no one says much of anything to me! Except, "where is the registration?"

Finally, we were lined up our corral according to our predicted finish time. When the gun finally went off......we actually had to walk for about a 1/10th of a mile!! It was that crowded!
Then as we began to finally run we were channeled into a narrow area almost like a chute! And then it was more of a 'race walk' until it finally opened up and we could run. Of course then...bam the first hill was upon us...not too bad....ok for mile 1...but this is Cow Harbor and mile 2 is a definite big uphill climb. Ugh! I was not ready for this kind of intensity. Half way up, I had to walk for a bit....but soon it was definitely downhill running.

I really enjoyed this race! I hardly even listened to the music I had on my i-touch. The crowds were ringing cow bells, banging pots and pans, and playing music. It was so incredibly festive.People were cheering us on and giving us distance markers. And then after the last hill and mile 5.5 it was a flat and straight run into town. I felt like it was the Olympics with people cheering, a big finish sign, and lots of photographers too!! And of course, finally, I saw Glenn on the sidewalk taking my picture and cheering me!! Awesome!! This race definitely hooked me on running races even more.

The only downside was I couldn't find a regular water or gatorade at the end of the race and had to drink Glenn's vitamin water and eat some cookies! It was really cool, fun and exhilarating!! I can't believe I may not have even signed up for it. So glad I did!

Next up: Running Like a Diva 5K on Sunday in Eisenhower Park.