The World's Toughest 10K.

Dear running coach,

I put my fotobug shoes into good use early this morning as the sun started to peek over the Sandia mountains. I arrived with 8 minutes til the official race start time. I didn't want to warm up for the race, a choice I made the night before. (Actually, a choice I made the night before while standing in the dark where I remembered the starting line drawn last year.) At ten thirty Saturday night, I asked my husband to drive me to I-25 and Tramway so I could stand in the dark and be face to face with the challenge us runners have. The hype, the start, the energy, tension, anticipation...... the lack of sleep, wondering if the right foods were consumed, thinking if I trained enough... the list goes on. But as I stood there, wearing my fotobug shoes, I came to terms with the steep incline and faced my pre race jitters while my husband waited patiently in the car for me. (He is so flippin' rad!) I slept a little better than I normally would before a race day and the drive to the race wasn't filled with anxiety like it normally is. Eight minutes and counting, right before the gun went off, I remained calm and collected. The gun went off and I gently started my incline making sure that Lincoln stayed by my side for at least two miles. (After that, I didn't see him again!) He is known for taking off way too fast and then paying for it the last couple of miles (as you know). So, I pulled the reigns on him and he stayed with me. I listened to Randy (our new running coach) and kept focus on one person in front of me, trying not to look away... with each step climbing and always thinking of positive things, never the pain. It was a personal best for me in the WT10K, over four minutes faster than last year, placing GOLD. You said that I would run faster and you were right and the race itself felt awesome! Lincoln ran his longest distance in a race so far, he came in 23rd overall! We are already talking about doing it again next year....

I hope we made you proud!

Love, Sarah

Here are some of my favorite images from the race!

Getting up early is totally worth it to see this view! How lucky are we?!

Never ever.

Look at Lincoln's perfect runner legs!! (on the left)

He pushed it to the end. I am one proud sister, lemme tell you!!!

It's hard to see with such a condensed image file but my favorite part of this image is in the background. On the right, you can see three guys standing in the background. It's my two younger brothers and my husband. I zoomed the image in and Daniel looks shocked, Lincoln is smiling and David is checking out my PR time with his 'I'm proud of my wife face' grin.

Since Lincoln left me in the dust, I had to carry him......pft! (Side note: Mom took this with her point and shoot and I LOVE IT!)

The Eastbrook Studios Team was the official photographer for The World's Toughest 10K! Pamela with That's A Wrap! Event Productions called us to document the race. How exciting!! Since I was running in the race, superphotomom Cece and THE talented Guadalupe captured the race. They had a blast! Pamela organizes many races throughout the year, she is always super organized and she makes sure to cater to the needs of runners. We hope to see you photoblog readers sign up for future races!