🏃 First 10k this weekend and I'm nervous

I signed up for the 10 kilometre category of the local marathon this weekend. Never done one. For years I just stood on the footpath with chai, clapping for my friends as they ran past. This time one of them said, "why don't you come?" and I couldn't think of a reason. So I'm in. Number tag and everything, it's lying on my table looking at me. Training was 2 months of early mornings. Day 1 I managed 2 kilometres and almost cried. My calves hurt in places I didn't know had muscles. My knees complained for a full week. A colleague who runs these regularly told me to go slow in the first 3 kilometres. He said everyone starts too fast because of nerves, and then dies around the halfway mark. I've been practicing that. Slow start, small steps, breathe through the nose when possible. Last Sunday I did 8 kilometres without stopping and felt like a superhero for about an hour. Then I tried to climb the stairs at home and my legs refused. My mother laughed at me and put a hot water bag on my calves. My family will stand at 2 points on the route and cheer with a flask of tea. That helps more than they know. I just hope I look like a runner and not a lost person. Is anyone else running this weekend, or standing on the side cheering? Any last minute tips for a first timer? What do you eat that morning?

Eat something light 2 hours before, like a banana and toast, and nothing new that morning. I ran my first 10k last year and wore new shoes on race day. My feet paid for it. Go slow for the first 3 kilometres like your colleague said, and walk through the water stops. You'll be fine. Wave at your family, it gives you a free boost.

Ran the last one purely out of stubbornness after telling half my office I would, and somewhere around the eight kilometre mark seriously regretted opening my mouth about it in the first place. Finished slower than planned but the stretch near the lake with random strangers cheering complete strangers on made the whole thing worth the sore knees for days after.