Too Hot To Handle 15K, 2012

On Sunday I ran in my first 15k!  I was definitely slow but that's okay.  The race is called Too Hot To Handle for a reason and I didn't want to push my body too hard in the heat.  My goals were to finish the race, keep a steady pace, and run the whole time.  I did walk through the water stations but that's just because I can't run and drink at the same time.  :)  I met those goals!
We really lucked out with the weather.  It was in the mid 80's when the race began, there was a lot of cloud cover and a lot of shade at the beginning of the race.  I had planned on running with my group for the first half of the race and then I was going to try to push myself a little more on the second half.  I felt great at the beginning but once we started the second half, the clouds went away and the sun was  on us.  I went on ahead of my group but not too far.  That sun really took the energy out of me and I ended up with my group again except for the last mile and I tried to finish that last mile with a little more speed.  We kept a slow and steady pace and at the beginning of the race if felt like everyone and their mom was passing us but at the end, we still had the same pace and we ended up passing a ton of people!  When I came through the finish line there were a ton of people still cheering all of us turtles on.  I was able to find Matthew in the crowd; it was encouraging to see him smiling and cheering me on.  I finished the race a few minutes under 2 hours--told you I was slow but that's okay.  The next time I run a 9.3 mile race, I should definitely beat my time.
The Sunday, I will start my first 1/2 marathon class.  I plan on running in the Dallas Half Marathon in December.  The race benefits the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, as hospital near and dear to my family's hearts.
I see my asthma and allergist today and I'm sure he'll be proud of me.  I see my electrophysiologist and I'm sure she'll be proud of me too.  As of right now, my average resting heart rate is 61 and my average blood pressure is 101/62.
Maybe now I'll call myself a runner.  I spend more money on running and yoga gear than I do on dress clothes and shoes.