I ran 10 miles!

You may have noticed I have been running a lot lately.  After my recent 5K I was browsing the internet for other potential events and came across the Over the Narrows 10 mile run.  It looked like a lot of fun to run over a big bridge and back, plus it cost only $23.  It was a last minute decision, and I signed up just days before the event.  I had recently completed a 8 mile run and felt this would be a great next step in my training if I want to complete a half marathon in the near future.  I was a little nervous as I have not run a competitive long distance run since Cross Country in High school.  The night before I found out my friend Amy (#632) was also running the event and invited me to carpool drive her and her friends to the event.  They are all avid runners, but were running for fun and treating it as training run so we ended up running as a group.

Running with a group definitely made this a very positive experience and I learned some important things.

(Over the bridge the first time - mile 4 "feeling good")

#1 -  Practice drinking and running.  At the first water station I grabbed my cup and kept running just like everyone else.  After nearly choking to death I learned a very important tip of how to drink and run by pinching the top of the cup so the water is not forced down your throat. 

(Back over the bridge - mile 6  "Still smiling")

#2 - Have Fun! - How can you not have anything but fun when running with someone like this.  It was great conversing with others, it really helped keep me relaxed and my mind distracted, making the miles go by much quicker.

(Finished the run "Still standing")

3.  Support each other - Running with others provided me with a personal cheer-leading squad, giving me the needed motivation to keep going even if my legs felt like jello (notice I am not attempting any jumps in the above pictures).  The encouraging words of others really made this a great experience, helping me to perform well and meet my goal of completing this run in 1 1/2 hrs.