10K

The 10K! In Mankato! Our first! Good news is...we survived! I was a nervous wreck starting Friday night. I don't really know why, but I was. Scott and Lisa Nelsen - our awesome friends - ran with us and it was their first 10Ks as well. For the record, Lisa was nervous about the run too.

Saturday morning we left the hotel about 6:30 AM and headed to downtown Mankato to get on a bus that would take us to the starting line, which was on MSU's campus. Here are all four of us in the hotel, getting ready to leave:

My super-smart hubby had the idea that we should have these shirts made that match our #keepfightingblake bracelets. In addition to wearing the shirts, Scott raised money for the Ronald McDonald House in Iowa City that is very near and dear to our hearts. Last I knew, he had raised over $500. Wow!!!

Jenna and Brody LOVE Scott and Lisa! A sleepy pic with Scott.

And Lisa too!

It was kind of weird because it was dark out when they dropped us off. It was a very "balmy" 36 degrees at the start of the race. It actually turned out to be the perfect temperature. The picture above was taken right before our run. Sorry for the bluriness, but it was with my phone.

THE RACE:

Aaron - he said he didn't feel like he ran very well. He even had the nerve to tell me after the race that he thought he was running so slow that he feared that he would look over his shoulder during the run and I would be right on his heels. LOL. Real nice, huh?! Aaron finished in under an hour, which was his goal.

Me - My lungs felt great the entire race! I never felt out of breath. I had been having some issues with pain in my left knee. The Sunday before I ran about 6.8 miles and I was in major pain that night and the next day. I took the entire week off in hopes to not injure it more.

Around mile 2, I could feel the pain start to creep. At about 4.5 miles my knee buckled and I literally almost fell. I kept going though. It sounds weird, but all I could picture was little Blaker's face that day he was poked four times. I thought to myself, this is just your knee. Look what Blake goes through every single day. Suck it up and keep running. And I did! I crossed the finish line in 1:07, beating my goal by about 8 minutes. I could barely walk the rest of the weekend, but it was worth it. :)

Scott and Lisa: They both ROCKED IT!! Lisa beat her goal and Scott did his as well. I am so very proud of both of them and it was extra special that we all did it together.

Aaron said he doesn't want to run any farther than a 10K, but plans to run some 5Ks in the future. I said I might want to try something farther. Maybe. We will see what happens, but it was definitely a great accomplishment!!