Still standing...

 I woke up today, knowing I had a 10k ahead of me... and felt pretty good... a little nervous, but was happy to be challenging myself... My morning glories were so bright and colorful and I decided it was a glorious morning... it had rained a bit early this morning and I was worried that the race would get rained on... but it didn't! 

I met Sara and Phil and Maria near back cove and Phil drove us up to the start line and dropped us off.. there were a lot people in the race...  Sara and Phil asked what my goal was... and I said to finish... and that I hoped to do so under two hours... and... hoped to not be last...

This was the view from the starting area... a bit ominous... which quickly cleared up into a sunny day with a perfect breeze... 

Our obligatory pre race selfie:

As the race started I knew I would be close to the end of the pack... it was cool to look ahead and see so many people doing this course... lots of walkers and runners...

I started out trying to listen to music through my amazon prime account but without wifi it was a struggle, so instead I listened to an audio book...   but after the first 3/4 of a mile or so a former co-worker and friend (current), Anton came up behind me.  Anton is VERY athletic... he bikes like crazy and is a runner... he could not run for months and wake up and decide to do a half marathon... he is THAT kind of athlete... he is a great person and I love hanging out with him.  He has recently had some injuries to his knee and he is not supposed to run, so he was walking this race as an experiment to see how he liked walking races... and he stayed with me the whole time... I am sure he could have gotten ahead, but it was so nice to have company... I think it also helped me keep a faster pace... we chatted the entire race.  When we reached mile 5 Sara  texted to see where I was and not knowing I had a walking partner she ran back form the finish line to find me and walked the last half mile or so with us.  It was nice to finish together!  (Even thoguh she had finished WAY earlier!) 

So, my goal was to finish under 2 hours... according to my watch I finished in about 1 hour 45 minutes... my official time was 1:47 minutes... 17:26 miles... not a fast pace, by any means, but I finished... and felt better than I expected... 

AND at the finish I ran into Jacey!!

I had no idea she was doing this race, but so cool to see her afterwards!  

We hung out for a while... this is a race that has beer and pizza at the end... ( am not a beer girl and didn't want pizza as we were heading elsewhere for lunch, but the vibe was still cool!  I may have gotten my beer allotment and shared... )  

Afterwards, Sara, Phil, Maria, and I went out to Portland Lobster Company for lunch.. what a PERFECT lunch spot for the last Sunday of summer ... it was great.. there was a great band playing and it was so nice. 

 I am a little stiff... and am sure I will be more stiff tomorrow... but I feel good... good that I was able to do this 'race'... the longest distance I have walked at one time in a very very long time... I looked back at my previous Trail to Ale times... one year I did 1 hour 39 minutes and one year I did 1 hour 45 minutes... both of those years were years I had been training to walk the half marathons... this year I have been walking more, but definitely had not done any training... so I feel good... It is good motivation to do more walking... (I will never be a runner!)  

Now.. I think it may be time for a nap!