Martian Meteor 10K

I did it!  I ran the Martian Meteor 10K in Dearborn this morning (8 AM start time, to be exact. We can discuss the insanely early start times in another post) in 1 hour and 10 minutes. I was pretty impressed with my time as I had originally thought it would take me a LOT longer due to the pain in my right foot that I've been nursing for over a week. I honestly thought that I'd end up walking most of it and running short bits. Instead, it was exactly the other way around. I ran most of it, and walked a few snippets to catch my breath and recoup some energy. This was a first for me in a couple of areas:
1. First 10K - in fact - first 10K ever - due to the injury, I hadn't even run a 10K in training yet.
2. First race where it rained - Honestly, the rain was somewhat refreshing and kept me cool throughout the race.
3. First race where I wore the World Vision jersey.

I must admit, I almost didn't wear the jersey. With moving, I don't necessarily feel very much a part of the team from Northridge anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely running the marathon. But, I guess I don't feel the camaraderie with the "RidgeRunners" that I did at the beginning, knowing that I won't be training with them for most of the time. Along with my belief that I wouldn't do well in this race, I really debated on whether I should wear the jersey or not. But, I realized that with the lack of training the last week and a half, I have begun to retreat into a dark place where I hear my negative self that tell me I can't do it, I'll never succeed, etc. When I start listening to that internal dialog and not just listening, but believing it, I begin to retreat. As I stood there looking at the jersey this morning, I realized I needed to wear it. I needed to bond with these people and feel a part of this group. I need to have the encouragement and support from these runners even if I don't end up training with them here, I am still a member of the team.