Water Tower 10k

Oh, where to begin? Some of you may know that I started blogging in 2006. The other 99.9% of you reading this now likely came here via social media, and that's quite alright. 

Once upon a time I blogged every.single.run. Yep, I composed several posts per week. Then I stopped because, 1) I had a baby, and 2) social media took over. I have the fondest memories of blogging, though. That's how I have made DEAR running friends all over the globe, literally.

Long story short, I have not run consistently since *gasp* early 2014. I'll spare you the details of that. Today's race, though, has more or less been 18 months in the making. I'll get right to it!

Today I checked off a local bucket list race: Hernando Water Tower 10k! Why was it on my list? Because it is nearby AND it has a very cool medal. There ya have it.

Once I got my act together and committed to training for it (after recovering from an injury that postponed marathon #14), I printed out a Galloway training plan. I adore the Galloway method of run-walk-run. I am currently using the 10:30 method, which means I run for 10 seconds and walk for 30 seconds. 

One Friday I did something COMPLETELY out of character for me: I asked on Facebook if anyone would want to run-walk-run 3 miles with me the next day. (I always run alone. Always.) Lo and behold, my old friend Alison said she would. I was shocked, as I had no idea she was in to running. As it turned out, she really wasn't. The rest, as they say, is history!

I showed up to Alison's that day, and we got the job done. I told her I'd be running 4 miles the next Saturday, and she agreed to join me. One thing led to another, and we got up to 6 miles together before family vacations and other travels stopped us. 

Recently I asked her if she would like to join me for the 10k. She actually said YES! So, we made it happen. We both arrived in Hernando at about 7 AM today, and we went to get our packets. Being a rather small race, it was super easy and fast to get our goodies.

See, easy peasy! I was pre-registered, and Alison registered on-site.

It was chilly out this morning. I'd say it was in the low 50F range. I wish I had brought a jacket for all of my walking around. Alison was definitely smarter than me in that respect!

 Here we are before the race began. See her coat?

I saw a few people I knew, which is always nice. We made our way to the back of the pack. All I wanted to accomplish today was crossing the finish line. The mere fact that I had gotten my act together to make it to the start line was a victory unto itself. Oh, if you only knew!

When the race began, I almost missed pressing start on my Garmin because the start line was literally a small line and the word "start" written on the asphalt on one side of the street with orange spray paint. Gotta love a small race! FYI the finish line was the typical large ordeal.

We began passing people immediately because of our very efficient run-walk-run method. I told her that would happen because lots of these folks would go out super fast and then regret it. Ha! I then began to tell poor Alison about my history with running. People, we are talking about 15 years of running tales including 13 marathons and one or two failed attempts. The next thing I knew, we were at mile 4.3! If you know me well, then you know I do NOT tell any short stories because I do not like to leave out a single detail. 

It was a lovely course. We started near the town square. Hernando is the county seat of DeSoto County, Mississippi. Both Alison and I live roughly 25 minutes from there. Once we left the square, we went through lots of neighborhoods that were new to me. With the exception of going to certain restaurants, I rarely get down to Hernando. This was quite a treat. It was definitely hilly, but we really didn't mind. The weather was overcast and less than 60F, even at the end. I felt like I didn't even sweat! 

We agreed that we would run through the finish line, even if we were technically amid a walking portion of my Galloway ratio. And so we did! We finished strong. Might I add, we finished with an average mile split faster than I anticipated! 

 Here we are just past the finish line.

The surprising thing was that it never occurred to me to eat during the 6.2 mile race. It finally dawned on me as we were walking to the restroom in the nice, clean, and warm country building. I mean, who wants to use a port-o-potty if you don't have to?

 Here we are a little bit cleaned up after our restroom stop.

We walked back to our cars and parted ways, but not before discussing our running future together. I am so, so, so stinkin' proud of Alison! How amazing is it that her very first race was a 10k?!?!

 Here is my awesome race shirt. I love it!

 Here I am, all cleaned up, sporting the race shirt and medal.

 We got a great, well stocked goody bag.

Check. Out. That. Medal!

I am definitely on cloud nine and ready to move forward. Running was such a HUGE part of my life for so long, and I couldn't be happier to feel like I'm "back," in a way. Here's to a great end of 2018 and an epic 2019!