My First Run Recap as My Gluteus Maximus Throbs

As you might have seen on instagram (@hollystanfield) or Facebook HERE (what? you can only handle me in small doses?)... I had my first 10k this weekend.

Let me back up for a moment...

I have never ran a race before. There was one time when my friend Joan signed up for a 5k. At the last minute, her friend dropped out, so I was going to fill in for her. When we got there, they didn't have packets/shirts for us. So we decided to leave and go have breakfast at Bob Evan's.

I have also never ran the distance of a 10k before either. But like everything else in my life, I will fake it til I make it.

So Saturday, I packed up the car and headed 3 hours west to Kansas City to see Darci, Molly, and Amanda. It was Darci's Dirty Thirty Weekend... and all she wanted us to do is run a 10k through a cave with her. She knows how to party.

We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory because that was closest to our hotel and only had a two hour wait. :) It was connected to the biggest Forever 21 I have ever seen, so we browsed for an hour, before making our way back to the restaurant bar for some drinks.

Dinner was delicious. I did my goat impression for everyone. And we decided to hit up a bar before going back to the hotel. So we take a cab ride a few blocks and pop in this bar. We stayed for a half a drink before we slapped ourselves with a reality check that we were too damn old to be there.

Yesterday, we woke up and headed to the race.This isn't a race where people PR. It's a man-made cave... It's dark... The ceiling is low... and it feels like you are doing laps in a really tight parking garage. We told ourselves before the race that we would all be happy if we could do it under 1:15. The race was 90% mental because it was darker, there wasn't any mile markers, and everything looked the same.

What's interesting is that we all had a different running approach, but all finished within seconds or minutes of each other.

I did  my slow and steady fat girl bounce. No stopping, but no speed. I knew if I stopped, there would be no more distance in my Teletubby legs.

Darci did the same. But I let her finish three seconds ahead of me because she is old and 30 now. :)

Molly lead the pack in the beginning, then cooled down for a walk, turned into a light jog, and then sprinted the finish like a champ.

Amanda took it real slow at the beginning and then finished strong.

And we made our goal but the laces on our shoes.

It was the best feeling in the world finishing the race for two reasons:

One, the feeling of just stopping... I bent over to take off my shoe chip, and started to tear up until a sling of snot poured out of my nose. I had to pull myself together. Good job, Big Holly.

Two, the small child that I delivered on the way home at a truck stop in the middle of Missouri.

Today, I feel like I have been hit by a F150, but ready to get my rear in gear for the half in April.

Thanks to everyone for the Good luck's and Way to go's on IG and facebook. :)

---

Also, some of my favorite bloggers are putting together a mother load of a giveaway. It ends tonight but includes so many goodies... all going to ONE PERSON. Check it out HERE.

---
Here are a few new blogs to check out this week...

Angie is a newbie blogger and Jersey Girl. She really isn't mean like her blog name-- that's just an inside joke between her friends. She blogs about her crazy family and a little bit of everything. Go leave her some new-blog love today. Check out her blog, Mean Ang, HERE.

Who does Taber look like to you? I cannot pin her celebrity look alike at the moment and it's bothering me. Taber is also a new-er blogger. She runs and blogs about her small family, love for owls and champagne. Jump over to Taber's blog HERE.

And last but not least, my friend Amanda Z. :) We have hung out twice in real life now. First time she slept over at my house while in town and then this past weekend for our 10k. She is still friends with me even though Haven walked in on her in the shower. She is a girl-mom and recently lost 30+ pounds. Stop by her blog HERE.

---

If you are interested in sponsoring for February  just shoot me an email (holly.j.stanfield@gmail.com). It's $10/mo and includes having your button on my sidebar and a shout out. If you don't have a button, no worries-- I will have Chris make you one out of the kindness of his little heart.