10 Mile Glory

Well, folks, I did it.

Today was the 10-miler, and I honestly could not have asked for a better race. The weather was perfect, and I felt GREAT. I felt no pain at all! Once, around 7.5 miles or so, I started to feel a little fatigued, but it passed, and a little after the 8-mile mark I felt one twang in my left hip that promptly went away. I honestly felt like I could have run forever.

I ran my first 5 miles at almost exactly a 10:20 pace, which was faster than I was expecting! I crossed the halfway point about 5 seconds over a 10:20 pace, and since I felt good, I kicked it up a notch just to try to get back on a 10:20 pace. Then, I crossed mile 6 at almost exactly an hour! I had increased my speed enough to be at a 10-minute pace! And I was still feeling great.

So, in Energizer Katie style, I just kept going. As I entered the final mile, I was still feeling amazing and couldn't stop smiling. When I entered the Soldier Field, I started cheering right out loud and took off sprinting with my hands in the air! I was completely ecstatic when I crossed the finish line. I was so excited, in fact, that I forgot to stop my watch! When I finally did (I'm guessing 15 or 20 seconds later), my watch read 1:39:51. It took a second for me to process this, but suddenly I realized I had just run a 10-mile race at a hair's breath under a 10-minute pace. Truly, truly amazing and WAY faster than even my most ambitious of goals.

And though I am sore, I am not injured. Honestly, I'm barely sore. A hot shower took care of most of the soreness I felt immediately after the race.

The only damper on this whole thing is that my timing chip did not work. My cat bit it as I was lacing it to my shoe this morning, and I think she destroyed the microcircuitry. So, I had the best race of my life, by far -- and there is absolutely no record of me completing it. That really bums me out.

But, I do have my watch time, which I know is an overestimate. And even assuming that -- assuming that I finished in exactly 1:39:51 -- here would be my stats:
4836th out of 7366 overall,
2210th out of 3397 females, and
744th out of 1222 in my age group.
Roughly two-thirds of the way down the list in all cases, which is really not a bad showing.

I won't lie. The lack of an official time really took the wind out of my sails, and when I think about it too much, it is still upsetting. Why couldn't it be for one of my mediocre races that this happened? (Snowstorm, 6-hour flight delay, bad chip -- I'm starting to think my race schedule is cursed!)

But, here's another truth. I will NEVER forget the way I felt during this race -- like I was unstoppable. Like I could run forever. Like my injury had never happened. And I will NEVER forget the way I felt when I crossed the finish line -- like I had conquered the world. And I will NEVER forget the way I felt the moment my brain processed the fact that my pace had averaged under a 10-minute mile. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. It feels overdramatic to say that, but it's true. It was a moment of pure, unfettered joy as I basked in the glory of my finish.

And I will not let the lack of an official time take that away from me. I know I was there, and I know what I accomplished.

I am The Energizer Katie, HEAR ME ROAR!