The lack of entries is due to a lack of time, but also due to a lack of experiences outside of work and Austin. This does not mean I'm not enjoying life - I am! It just means that this enjoyment revolves around a certain little mister.
However, I do finally have something to say for myself: I ran a 5K! My first 5K or race ever. I am not counting years of track in high school, where my longest race was 200 meters. This was my first "long" race.
Leading up the race, Hayden suggested I might want to train a bit. It had been years since I ran. I thought about it, but with a week to go and no opportunity thus far to go jogging, I thought perhaps it was best to not awaken my body to the horror of running out of shape until the last possible minute. I stand by this "shock and awe" strategy.
At race time, it was 27 degrees and felt like 17, according to the Weather Channel. I do know that it was cold as a witch's tit and no amount of clothing or running would warm me up. This worked out to my advantage, as I'm pretty sure my body did not even know it was running until the end of the race.
As I started out, my promise to myself was that I would start and end it running. Walking would be ok, but only in the middle of the race. Several of my IFES colleagues were there and my one office friend, Rachel, had a similar philosophy. We decided to run together. This was a stroke of good fortune for me.
As a sprinter, a long distance race (anything over 400 meters,) is a mental marathon. At the start of any race, my body wants to take off as fast as it can. This has been the way for me since I was a little girl and won all of my elementary school 50 yard dashes. I explained this to Rachel and she replied,
"Oh, you are a Quarterhorse."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I've done equestrian my whole life and the thoroughbreds and Arabians are for the long haul races and the Quarterhorses are the sprinters."
I loved this analogy. LOVED IT. My instincts to sprint were laden in my DNA, just like a quarterhorse!
So the rest of the race, I fought my instinct to beat everyone and stayed with Rachel. I know this is the only way I was able to complete the race. I wanted to take off so many times. It killed me to see older, chubbier people ahead of me. I became bored. I was worried about stamina. But I kept at Rachel's side...until the last "quarter." Then, with the finish line almost in sight, I let my body take off and run like the wind. It felt great and horrible. I was tired and out of shape, so the sprint burned and almost led to me puking. But, it felt so good to cross the finish line strong and with long, fast strides, if only for a few hundred meters.
I did it. I finished a 5K. Onwards and upwards!
