Another one for the books!

Thanks to Ivy's ambition and my refusal to back down from a challenge I can now say that I've run a 10K! It was a beautiful July 4th morning and we arrived at Sandy City hall pumped up with nerves and adrenaline. After a pre-race leg massage from Ivy I was feeling pretty confident that we would finish in about an hour and 20 minutes. We took our places in the crowds of people and the anticipation built and then we were off!

We were pacing together very well but I was not feeling up to par when the race started. I started to feel pretty ill but I was just going to push through it! I didn't want to tell Ivy that I was feeling sick because it might hurt our Race Day Mojo! I thought that the feeling would pass and I would start to get into the swing of things soon enough........ A mile later I finally started to feel okay. The cramping had stopped and I was finally falling into my stride. That first mile was through a neighbor hood and was pretty much all up hill. It was the hardest part of the race. The rest of the first lap was a piece of cake! It went by quick and when we came up on the second lap we were greeted by an exuberant Shawna cheering us on and Sam snapping away with the camera!

Then it was time for the up hill neighbor hood again. Then like falling into a frozen pond the mental butt kicking began! Ivy said mostly to herself "If I can make it up this hill I can run the rest of the way!" and my personal favorite "Channel the inner Tara!" referring to the biggest loser contestant and an amazing inspiration! I was repeating my usual mantras "Am I really going to die if I don't stop? I'm not going to let the race beat me! Its not the hardest thing I'll ever have to do." We busted out the hill and were panting like crazy and then we knew it was down hill and we only had 2.4 miles left to go!

Sounds a little easier when your not in the thick of it! When we came out of the neighbor hood our faith full cheerleaders were there to push us along! The rest is kind of a blur. I think I had to let go of the mental and let the physical take care of itself for awhile. When we knew we were almost there and all we wanted to do was STOP RUNNING we did the only logical thing and ran faster! On the home stretch our cheerleaders had returned and Shawna was screaming! "Your almost there! Sprint! Sprint! You can do it!"

Crossing the finish line is always an amazing experience. Its like a little slide show of all the things that you've done to get healthy and everything you've done to prepare for this just rushes over you! Its so worth it!

We ended up with a better time then we were expecting! We were pretty proud of ourselves! A year ago this would have been impossible for me! It could have taken my hours to finish this! I wouldn't have had any confidence to even attempt a 5K and a 10K would have been completely out of the question. So blowing those bearers to shreds always feels surreal and empowering!

Little did we know but our Mojo would have been impossible to destroy that morning because a few states away Bliss was busy with labor for our beautiful new nephew! Thanks for the help Bliss! We were right there with you sista give you our all!
Now on to the next challenge!