No longer a 10k virgin...

...I'll get to that in a minute

What a great first 10K! Over 4500 runners were at West Potomac Park at 8AM this morning ready to go. Most people were wearing the race t-shirt, but other people dressed up as Santa, reindeer, and other Christmas figures. Before it started, one of the women standing by me at the race remarked that she was a 10K virgin. And then I realized that I am, too. Well, was.

The first 2 miles were ok, and we passed the water station at 2. We picked up the pace a bit (that's also when people who were really fast started to return on the turn). My one problem was that it was pretty packed, so it was hard to pass people or change your pace. I wish there was a way to make it less congested. Then we hit the 4 mile mark, and that was when we sped up a bit more, since we only 2.2 miles left. It felt great to see the 5 mile line, because I knew I only had a little over a mile, and I knew I could handle that. It was a big push, and then we went through the finish line!

My friend Seth came to take me to the airport, and actually met me at the finish line. It was nice to have someone at the end waiting for me. We drove to Baltimore and stopped off breakfast at McDonald's, which was delicious (I was so hungry). But I digress...

Time: 55:04
Pace: 8:52
Division (Women 20-24): 110/325
Women in general: 533/2114
5k: 31:52

And so that was my time for this race. It took a little longer than I thought, but I'm still pleased with the results. Had I known the time, I probably would've pushed a little bit to shave off those 4 seconds. Anyways, it felt great to accomplish that, and hopefully means I'm in good shape for the March Marathon.
Thank you for all of the support! It was a lot of fun!