Well...

...What a day. Ma & I did the 10k as part of Team BCHC, raising funds for the charity I work for. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the atmosphere at the start and jogged over the start line for a minute or so, which turned out to be a whacking great mistake as I started getting searing pains in my shins (shin splints, I assume). I'd gone less than half a km and was in tears, certain I wouldn't be able to carry on. I asked Ma to go on ahead so that we wouldn't let our sponsors down, with the idea that I'd hobble over to the runners village and wait there for her. Problem was, I couldn't figure out how to get off the course without barging over into the group of folks returning from the first wave, and therefore crossing the finish line and looking like some sort of speedy Gonzales! I kept hobbling on, in dead last place, and at just passed the 3km mark, my left leg was much better, so I decided to just keep going. I was really buoyed on by the folks on their return journeys who were cheering me on, high-fiving me, and generally being lovely about my last place hobblefest. Just after the 4km mark, I passed 2 ladies who were also clearly struggling with injuries and ploughing on, and at the 5km turning point I started to get a bit better. I managed to take a minute off my average time per km, according to the Great Run app on the way back, passing a couple more people so I didn't actually place last! I also still managed to finish faster than I was anticipating; based on my average time per km on my walks the past couple month, I was expecting to finish in around 02:15:00, but I crossed the finish line in 02:00:10! I'm really, really proud of myself for pushing myself to keep going, and actually finishing. Honestly, during the first few km I was convinced I wouldn't finish at all, let alone not be the last across the line! 

Everything aches now. Please sponsor me if you can; this was a gargantuan effort for me.