My Frist 10k Race and a Bit of Catch-Up

This post will be a bit of catching up for me.  My life has been crazy the last few weeks, but crazy in a good way.  I ran my first 10k race in Charleston a few weeks back, it was my oldest daughter's birthday, Easter, a new job at ePlus (more on that later), and lots of travel to see family and just a bunch of real life things that have kept me away.

For those of you that follow running I wanted to tell you a little bit about the experience of my first 10k race.  Last August a neighbor and friend convinced me that I need to get myself in better shape and that I needed to give running a try.  Up until then I hadn't exercised on a regular basis in over ten years.  After a few weeks of running, I needed a big goal to keep me motivated.  I set my sights on a 10k race.  This seemed almost impossible considering I couldn't even run half a mile my first time out without stopping.

I set my sights on the Copper River Bridge Run in Charleston, SC.  My wife and I lived in Charleston for a year and this is THE EVENT of the year.  The Bridge Run is listed as one of the top 10k races in the world with around 40,000 runners.  Besides that, Charleston is a beautiful city and I knew I could convince others to make the trip with us.  The final total was 23 people from seven different families in our neighborhood.  We rented a house on the beach for four days and had a blast!  It was a vacation with a race in the middle of it.  Below are some pictures to give you an idea of what 40,000 people looks like (and our view of the beach!)


In closing, this wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done, as a matter of fact it was one of the hardest.  Getting up and running wasn't always fun but in the end it is worth it and now I'm addicted.  It is amazing how much better I feel on a daily basis now that I'm active again.

I'm proud to say that 8 months and a ton of dedication later, I'm 14 pounds lighter and I was able to achieve the goal of my first 10k race!  In case anybody is curious I finished the race in 64:40.  I'm hoping to crack 60 minutes for my next race.  I also wanted to take a moment to thank my lovely wife for allowing me the time to pursue this and encouraging me when I needed it.  I couldn't have done it without you!