Helvetia 10k

As many of you know, I have been looking forward to running the Helvetia 10k. I've been running 2-3 days a week for the past 6 months with this 1 goal in mind. Well, today was the day.

I DID IT!!

I ran it...the entire thing. I didn't stop or walk once. 6.2 miles, under my belt! I did it in 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 2 seconds, which makes my average pace a 10:09 mile. When training, I generally stayed at a 10:15 - 10:30 according to my Nike+. I have never run more than 5.6 miles so I was guessing my average pace would be a 10:30 or 11:00. I surprised myself, and I LOVE it! Here are some of my stats (mostly for me to have on record):

• I was bib #4041
• There were 747 finishers (of the 10k portion)
• There were 222 male finishers, and 525 female finishers
• I was the 177th female to cross the finish line
• Out of the 21 females in my age group (ages 20-24) I finished number 8.
• Out of all 747 finishers, I was number 328.

Here is what I want to remember about it.

I woke up at 5:07 to make sure I had enough time. I ate, drank a bunch of water and got dressed. I then read my scriptures and prayed and just took some time to myself to mentally prep for this big day. I then woke up Sean and he loaded the car with the stroller and water bottles and food for the boys. The boys woke up shortly after and after feeding them breakfast and getting them dressed we headed out the door. We got the stadium at 7. We walked around and figured out where the race was going to start and finish, etc. After taking a quick potty break and warming up, I was ready to go. I made my way to the start line and picked where I wanted to stand in the line up. The 10k and half both started at the same place, same time...so there were over 4000 people lined up waiting for the gun. (It was crazy!) I was more toward the front than I thought, so it only took me 23 seconds from gun time to cross the start line. I knew that pacing was important so I looked at my Nike+ religiously to make sure I stayed near my 10:30. It was hard! I kept finding myself at 9:50ish so I kept slowing down so I didn't get burnt out. Like I said earlier, until today, I had never run more than 5.6 miles so I really didn't want to wear myself out early.

At mile 1, I was thinking about what I was accomplishing. All that it took to get there. What it meant to me. I was overwhelmed with a sense of pride in myself, knowing how far I had come and how amazing it was that I, Kimberly Diane, was running 6 miles by choice, and actually enjoying it. It was a good boost of energy and I couldn't help but smile to myself. It was a great feeling...it was then that I knew I could do this...

As I got to mile 2, the first runners were sprinting past me at mile 4 (since it was a there-and-back race.) I couldn't believe how fast some of these guys were going. At mile 3, again, I knew I had this. I was half way and I felt great (except for the fact that my right foot started going numb about this point). Mile 4 and mile 5 were uneventful...it was motivating knowing that I was passing people. And the fact that people that looked like "professional" runners (whatever that means) were stopping to walk boosted me a little too... Mile 6 was hard. It took all I had to keep going, but by the time I saw the stadium I got another burst of energy. When I rounded the last corner and I sped up more. Then I landed on the turf of the field and that thing has some spring to it! I kicked it into high gear and sprinted with all of my energy toward the end. It was fun passing 4 or 5 people in the last 100 feet to the finish line. Then, my beautiful little family, and my GREAT friend Shannon met me at the end at it was awesome. After catching my breath and Brayden asking to be held, we took a couple pictures and walked around.

All in all, it was a great experience. I really love that I pushed myself to do more than I had in the past...and to do it at a faster pace was incredible to me. I felt a ton of support from my friends and family that weren't there, but just supporting me through phone calls, text messages, and facebook messages. Thank you everyone for giving me the motivation to do this!

(I'm in the black and pink running out of the shute) Jamba Juice was AWESOME afterwards!