First 10K (Marc)

Saturday marked my first 10K. It was in a nearby town of Loveland, called the RatRace. I decided to run with my good friends Lane and Whitney. The plan was to pace with them and then if I felt good I'd leave them the last mile or so. I knew that being my first 10k and all, I wanted to pace myself so I would survive. My goal was to finish under 55 minutes (9min miles)
The beginning of the race was kind of hectic. It was a little unorganized and the race got bumped back 10 minutes because of a long line at the women's restroom. Anyway, finally we got started and in the starting pack I got separated from Lane and Whitney...so off I went. I felt like my pace was a little fast but it felt good so I stayed with it. I got to the first mile and was at 7:41. WAY TOO FAST FOR ME. I let up a little to pace for the long haul.
Mile 2 went fine and then 3 miles, but halfway to 4, the body wanted to stop. It was tired. I had run 5.2 on Thursday in prep and then went to a ward dance on friday night and that exhausted me. But, I decided not to rest until mile 4. At the 4 mile waterstation, I stopped for about 20 seconds and had two glasses of water. Slow and sipped but it felt good. Off I went.
I sure wanted to see Lane and Whitney by now. I missed having someone to pace with. About 4.5 miles in, I saw them. It was a great boost. I decided I would begin running in step with the person in front of me and go at my stride for the rest of the race. All of the sudden, I passed one person, then another, this was feeling good.
For the last 1.25 I paced with a relatively fast guy and we kind of went at it. I passed, then he passed. I wanted to beat him. With about .8 miles left, I passed him and latched my sight on a girl about 100 yards off. That was my goal. I caught her with about .2 miles left. She felt me on her heals and kicked in. I stayed with her but it was too late, I finished step for step with her and less than a second behind, with the screams of Julie and the boys cheering for me as I finished.
As I finished, I looked at the official clock...51:47. What, are you sure. No way. I did it. I ran the 10K, and paced at 8:27 miles. Not the end of the road, but a good start (I think). Lane and Whitney finished shortly after and we had hot dogs, pizza, chips and gatorade in the park.

All in all, I had a great time. I accomplished one goal this month, a 10K under 55 minutes, now to my second goal, 60 miles for the month. I got it!