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"Happy Monday, everyone! I know you must be wondering how the 10K went on Saturday: It was AMAZING! When I woke up yesterday morning, I had a fleeting thought--&amp;quot;Wait, I ran a 10K yesterday? Me?&amp;amp;#8221; I still couldn&amp;amp;#8217;t believe it! Here are ten things I learned from the experience: 1. I still love pasta. And I can&amp;amp;#8217;t think of a better excuse to eat some than fueling your body for a race. SERIOUSLY! 2. Signing up with a few friends makes it less scary. My dear friend and co-worker, Joanna, from the Photo department here at Glamour, signed up for the race with me. And Emilia, another friend and fellow Glamour girl, (and a more seasoned runner, too) was also running. She helped me fasten the timing chip to my sneaker and eased my pre-race jitters. I also caught up with my college friend, Jess, before the race started. Here I am with Joanna and Emilia, right before lining up. And this is my friend, Jess. She&amp;#x27;s training to run the Marine Corps Marathon in October, and raising money for The Leukemia &amp;amp; Lymphoma Society while she&amp;#x27;s at it. Check out her cause here! 3. Port-a-potties are gross, even at 8:30 in the morning. I was hoping to avoid the experience, but I drank so much water beforehand that it was inevitable. At least I was well hydrated! 4. Being with a bunch of other runners is exhilarating. Every time someone shouted &amp;amp;#8220;Good job, runners!&amp;amp;#8221; Joanna and I would look at each other and giggle in disbelief. We had never considered ourselves runners before! Highly amusing but very encouraging. 5. I want to be a buff grandma. There were SO many older women in great shape who were running the race. How inspiring! Forty years from now, I want to be like them. 6. Run at your own pace. As you probably already figured out, Joanna and I were running together, at least part of the way. She is faster than me, so we agreed only to start together, with no obligation for either of us to remain that way. This arrangement was very comforting to me. We kept at the same pace for the first three miles, and then I felt like I needed to slow down a bit, so we parted ways. (There was no room for pride in this instance.) 7. Just aim to finish. That&amp;amp;#8217;s what is most important. Once Joanna zoomed off, it was just me with my feet against the pavement, and the birds chirping in the trees. I had no idea how many people passed me or how many more were behind me--I was only concerned with finishing. 8. It&amp;amp;#8217;s OK if you get emotional. Like I told you on Friday--before this race, I had never run more than five miles. I knew I would finish, but when I saw the six-mile marker, I got so emotional, I nearly cried. It felt like one of those milestone moments in my shaping up journey that I will never forget. 9. The finish line is a beautiful thing. My parents were there to cheer me on, as was my trainer, Taj Harris, from Crunch Fitness. (She also ran the race.) This meant a lot to me. It was a GREAT to share that accomplishment with them. 10. It&amp;amp;#8217;s OK if you forget the food log afterwards. After running 6.2 miles, I was in total celebration mode. I did not feel like keeping track of what I ate, so I took the day off. I went to a BBQ later that day, and no, I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t log a thing! So there you have it. Thank you all for your support and words of encouragement on Friday. I&amp;amp;#8217;m so pumped for the half-marathon now! Tell me, have you cried as you crossed the finish line at an event? And do you have a personal fitness milestone that gives you a great sense of accomplishment? Do you think it&amp;amp;#8217;s OK that I let loose food-wise after the race, or not? I think interruptions and exceptions are fine from time to time, but today is the beginning of a week-long challenge to follow the Body by Glamour plan to the letter. Check back with me this week to see how it&amp;#x27;s going! Get Glamour Wherever You Go! Follow us on Twitter. Friend us on Facebook. Add us to your Google homepage."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/shape-up/2009/06/i-survived-my-first-10k-plus-t>