Who's Z? Creations///Rebeca Greene Photography: Run, Forrest, Run!

On Sunday, yesterday, I did the Calabasas Classic 10K . It was a trial run to see if I had it in me and if I have a chance of finishing the half marathon I'm signed up to do in January....YIKES!!! I've done a 10K before, but I believe it's been like 20 years. I only had three goals going in.

1. Finish
2. Don't be last
3. Don't know how many people are behind you (You know, like, there are only five behind me)

A few years ago I did the Disney 5K and there were a sea of people. You just get lost in the middle somewhere and go about your business with no stress. So, I was a little worried when I got to the starting line, because it didn't seem like there were that many people. Great...now there is a definite possibility I could be last. On my walks, I WALK. Sometimes, I even meander.

When I did the 5K, I surprised myself and jogged the entire race. I think I finished in about 35 minutes. Being at Disneyland with all the people and getting to run through, well, DISNEYLAND!!!!, it was exciting and exhilarating. I wasn't sure how it would go this time.

I had looked up the race course before I came and they had a "course elevation" graph. Heavens!! It looked like a set of jagged teeth! The Disneyland course was completely flat. Oh, well. I decided that I needed to stop comparing these two races.

So, the race starts and I start jogging....UPHILL! I start getting winded right away and I'm thinking there is no way I'm keeping THIS pace up. So, I find a short-term goal point to stop and walk. Time for a new strategy. Take advantage of the downhills.

This race is just doing the 5K twice. Meaning, the first half is the same as the second half. A little boring, but you know what to expect around the next corner. Into the second mile, I am lapped by the first three runners of the race. When I get to the turn-around, the clock says 41 minutes. The winner of the race finished in 31 minutes and I'm just getting to the half-way point! ONWARD!!

Thankfully, I had an Ipod with headphones and somewhere in the last of the 4th mile this song came on that inspired me to pick up my pace. So, I was jogging and singing in my head like a lunatic, but then I came to my senses and thought, I can't keep this up. I'll kill myself! Then I reached the 5th mile and I got a cramp in my leg.....SEE!!!!!

Well, people, I survived! I finished the race in 1:23:52.6. I came in 202nd overall (31 people behind me) and 24th in my age group. My average time per mile was 13:32. Not killer numbers, but good enough for me.

I'm proud of myself and Billy's proud of me. And that's all I need. Well, that and a shower!

My Wheels

Today's mission

Yes, I can!!!!

I was not thinking about my blog at the time, so most of my pictures are the ones I took on my phone that I was sending to my family to update them on my progress.