The Healthy Kidney was my first 10K in quite some time. I spent the night before in Brooklyn at my friend Stephanie’s house warming party with the intentions of getting home by 11. Try 1:30 AM.

SIDENOTE: After much taunting from Mike, Jim and Ed about how I wear track pants to run, I decided to get some shorts. This was my first race with them and I did feel the difference.

I was tired the next day, but in good shape for the run. It was overcast and looked like rain.

I arrived at the front corral and it was very empty. I had been told that there were Olympians running in this race so therefore overlooked any chance I might have had at placing. The people around me in the front pack were indeed hard core. You can normally tell when their legs come up to your head.

The gun went off and we all bolted. This was the first race I had been in where I literally crossed the Start a second or two after gun time. I was up to pace in no time and ran my first mile in 5:54. Not bad but I needed to slow it down. At the top of Central Park it started to downpour. My headphones came out and wouldn’t stay in so I ran n the rain. It was actually very serene and peaceful, the sound of the rain and the footsteps. Mile 5 and 6 I got to run next to some Olympic fellow named ‘Alex’. I know this because everyone kept cheering for him and I was like “What about me? I need some pep too!” I gunned it through the finish line and thought my heart was going to explode. I wanted to finish in under 38 minutes and I had just made my mark!

Out of nowhere I hear “Yeah, go Baker” from the sidelines! I look over and its my friend of 12 years Melissa sitting sideline! It turns out her boyfriend (another good friend of mine -I matched them up years ago) was running the race as well. I came around and waited with her to see Joey D finish. We cheered him on then met up and grabbed some snacks catching up on life.