NSV - running outside in daylight

I have my first 10k since I lost this much weight coming up and I know the only way to run a race outside is to run outside - at one time I would have just used the treadmill as I still feel huge and am haunted by being taunted about my size when I ran outside before - so I have been running at 6am and picking places that aren't busy.

Today I was short on time and needed to walk the dog and get my practice run in - so thought I would combine the two but by the time I left the house it was lunchtime. I took the dog up our (very busy) local trail and just did loads of practice runs and brisk walks and guess what?

I didn't curl up and die, nobody laughed at me - although I did get loads of encouraging smiles and people saying "well done" and I realised that instead of being mortified at my loud breathing as I pushed myself I was actually kind of pleased that even if I was breathing hard, I was still moving and the 10k seems a bit less daunting - I feel kinda brave that I left the security of the wee track just behind my house and went running up and down hills and along proper trails.