10K…By The Numbers

Bright and early on Sunday morning, I ran a 10K.  That’s 6.2 miles.  When I say early, I mean E-A-R-L-Y.  I’m talking about I-had-to-use-my-iOS-7-flashlight-to-find-the-start-line early.  Being in a park in the dark was definitely creepy – like Freddy Krueger creepy – but starting the race before dawn under a moonlit sky was pretty awesome.  In fact, the entire race was a big bowl of awesome.  Here’s a recap…by the numbers.

2:  The number of 10Ks I’ve run in my lifetime.

12:  The number of years since I ran the first one.

6:  The number of hours I slept the night before the race.  I had better intentions, but kids and dogs and dishes and all kinds of things get in the way of sleep.  All the time.

2:  The number of times I went to the bathroom at the park before the race.  In an actual bathroom with toilet paper and a light and a sink (i.e. not a hole in the ground).  Happy Mama!

2:  The number of times I cried during the race thinking about Harry.  Depressing, but 6.2 miles was a long time to be alone with my thoughts, especially at my pace.

11:13:  My pace.

3:  The number of times I listened to Katy Perry’s “Roar” during the last mile.  I know.  Enough already with “Roar,” but let me tell you, it’s a perfect song to listen to on the last mile of a 10K.  Freakin’ perfect.

1:09:42:  My official net time.

1:  The number of glasses of wine I drank at the finish line.  The race sponsor was a local bar.  All runners got a free drink.  At 8:30 in the morning.  After running 6.2 miles and becoming slightly to drastically dehydrated.  It made total sense at the time.  An hour later, not so much.

17:  My place out of 31 runners in my age category (35-39).

1:42:  The time shaved off my last 10K race.  The one I ran over a decade ago.  Not a huge difference, but I was 25 years old when I ran that race.  I was in my mid-twenties as opposed to my – gulp – late thirties.  I was a baby!  And now, well, now I have babies.  Give a Mama a break!

13.1:  The number of miles I’m contemplating running next.  February 2014 Fort Lauderdale A1A Half Marathon, here I come?

#runawaymama