I Finished the Army 10 Miler

I finished my first Army 10 Miler in 1 hour 40 minutes at a 10 minute per mile pace!!! I started out pretty fast and was clocking between a 8.9-9.5 minute mile pace for the first 4 miles but then I injured my thigh trying to run around slow runners. I had to run on the grass and dip and dodge and by mile 5 I was running between an 11-12 minute mile pace to compensate for the pain. By then my toes in both feet were numb.

The race had 26,000 people running in it which was great for morale...also, there were many spectators on the route cheering us on...but then the crowd made it hard to stay on pace b/c there were so many people. All good! I had a blast and will definitely do it again and maybe even a 1/2 marathon.
Trinidaddy and the kids came to greet me at the finish line. Despite my injury, I sprinted to the finish line, but there were sooo many people traveling that last 50 yards, that I had to slow down my sprint to dodge around folks! That was a bit frustrating and I guess is par for course of a race with 26,000 people!JBoy is not in this picture because typical Chief Mischiefmaker style, he was in temper tantrum mode at the moment and missed out! whacky kid!

Oh and a testament to perseverance and an inspiration for hard work and not giving up, there were over 20 handicapped runners with prosthetic legs running and walking the course! I nearly teared up each time I ran near one. TOTALLY INSPIRING!! (you can see some in the first photo above if you click on the link)