2013 begins with a 10k

Time and time again I become hard headed and not train as sufficiently as I should. A little yoga here, some Pilates there and what do you have? You have me running and walking mixture and me telling myself that I hate running. Well, today marked the first time I ran a 10k and what I thought was slow times and slip-ups became a time of triumph and pride.

I must say that I did not do this race alone. I did it under the loving eye of a group I mention so many times in this blog. . . Black Girls Run ! Chicago or BGR for short.

Us pre-race

I began running with some of these ladies. The way the race was set up was there was an option for the 5k,10k or half marathon. Since I am still shaking in my boots for the half marathon in June I figured it would be a great time to begin running races that were not a 5k although I may still do a few here and there. While I wanted to give up because of lack of hydration stations and battling uphills which I so lack in my training I got complete strangers and I got the BGR girls to get me to continue to run and not just walk the entire thing. I was hoping to have a bad time but I came in at 1:15:04- not too bad for someone who really didn't train as much as she should have. Also, this year is all about the bling. . .

Me and my cutesy bling.

So, the highlights- I kept having to tie my shoe, I had the mind set that this was a 5k and wondered where the hydration station was after the first mile, I kept wondering where the mile markers were and my music went out on me so I ran in the music of the wind but luckily it was during the last mile. Once I got to a half a mile I walked and said, "just get it done" that, I did. . . 

I ran with all my might to the finish line where my bling and many happy BGR ladies were waiting for me.

The lady in the middle did a half marathon and also is responsible for me being in BGR! The other lady had an even more inspiring story of this race.

What lesson did I take home? TRAIN!!!! Train, train, train and once again. . .TRAIN!! It only gets more difficult from this point and the fact that I registered for ANOTHER half in October I think I need to get on track. This was just six miles. . . the half is not that easy of a feat so I better be ready for it. So, this is an eye opener- seriously.

Learn, persevere and RUN!