I really did it!

So, I'm running now. I don't think anyone would call me a runner. In fact, I can't really even say that I like to run, you could even say I hated it. But, now, I'm running.

It all started when Adam decided we needed a treadmill. We bought one off of Craig's List. The plan was for us to get in shape for the wedding. I kicked and screamed (well really I just did a WHOLE lot of whining) to get out of it. Remember, I hated running. But Adam pushed and we made an effort and I think we looked pretty good at our wedding. Great. That was done, I could stop running-whew.

I didn't run all summer long, but I sure did eat. If I hate running, well I feel the opposite about food. I LOVE to eat. Long story short, I undid all my running.

So this winter I hopped back on the treadmill. I find running on treadmills to be pretty boring. I mean you're just running in one place and the only thing you have to look at is the clock. So I started downloading movies and tv shows on my ipod. I found if I had something to distract me I didn't mind running so much. I got pretty good at it, or at least I thought so.

And then came Luna. She had way more energy than any dog I had ever met before. And she developed a new game, trying to nip at my knees and ankles while I was running on the treadmill. New plan, I'll switch to running outside and I'll take Luna with me. I keep running and it gets some of Luna's energy out. One day while running we saw a banner for the Lansdowne Memorial 5K. I thought that would be a good goal. I decided to run a 5K. Really? I hate to run, why would I choose to run 3.1 miles? I still have no idea.

We did pretty good, but Luna is, well, a little unfocused. So, once I had a race to train for I ditched the dog (not really, a long walk with her became my cool down) and learned the course. I ran it as often as I had a chance too, working on getting better at it every time.

Fast forward to race day. I got up at 7am, yup 7am on a day off. Ate a little muffin and did some stretching. At about 7:45am I headed out. It's just a 2 block walk to downtown where the race starts. I went to the registration table and gave them my name. I got my number (360) and my t-shirt. I kinda forgot I was getting a t-shirt so I wore one on top of my running shirt. So, in the absence of something else to do I added another layer. Yup I ran 3 miles in very warm weather in 3 shirts. Not too bright. The race didn't start until 8:30 so I had some time to kill. It became very apparent at that point that I wasn't a runner. The runners there were talking to each other about gear, and their last race. What their mile time was, and they were taking warm up runs to check out the track. I was just trying to sit and be still so as not to expend any energy. I'd need it all for the race.

After a while some dude on a megaphone started talking and everyone started moving in his direction. I had NO idea what he was saying, but I moved with the crowd mostly because I had to or get trampled. We were all standing around asking each other what the dude was saying and then all of a sudden an air horn went off. Was that a go? Wait, were we running in heats? Was I starting in the right place? Again, I moved with the crowd to avoid being run over. So we were running.

The "runners" quickly moved to the front (if they weren't there already) and the rest of us fell into groups. No one stopped traffic, they simply posted volunteers at intersections to try to persuade people not to drive through the course. It worked mostly, just one jerk driving against the stream smoking a cigarette.

I was pretty quickly passed by a whole bunch of kids (one of them was running in a pair of jeans and another brought her purse with her-weird). Oh well, at least I wasn't getting passed by the old folk. And . . .then . . .I got passed by a dude speed walking. Yup, some guy was walking faster than I was running.

Fast forward again to between mile 1 and 2. I passed all those silly kids and the speed walker. Ha! Take that! A little ahead of me folks were detouring into someone's yard to run through a sprinkler. The folks that live on the street saw and turned their's out into the street. It made for a nice little cool down.

It turns out that I ran better, harder and faster than I ever had before. I think it had to do with the fact that at nearly every intersection there were people clapping. Some kids came out and banged on buckets and pots and cheered. One little girl made us a sign. At mile one there was a pirate handing out water, and a little after mile 2 there was a group of boys passing out water as well. It helps when everyone is cheering for you.

I finished. My time was 36 minutes and 38 seconds. Which translates to slightly less than 12 minutes a mile. I was 162nd out of 195. Not bad for my first race I think.

I stayed around for a bit after the race. I drank some water and ate an orange and cheered on those who came in behind me.

After a bit I went back home and got Molly and came back into town. We sat on the front lawn of the Baptist church and watched the parade. It was a whopping 10 minutes long!

I came home fixed some breakfast, watched Big Trouble in Little China and took a nap.

Good Day.

I'm still not a runner, but I do think I will run another race. There is a 5K coming up next month. At the end of the race margaritas are served. Now that's a race I can get into!