Rocking the Parkway

Well, I'm back. It sure has been a while, but there's been lots going on in my head! Maybe this will once again become a forum for that.

This morning began with a 6:30am alarm going off. Not so abnormal except that it is Saturday. My first reaction? Turn the thing off and go back to sleep. Then I remembered it was 5K day.

After much internal debate about whether to skip the race (yes I already paid, yes I was already awake, yes I am a really good sales person) I decided to go. I was sure I'd feel better after.

I parked atrociously far from the start line due to complete lack of preparation and it took me 20 minutes of walking just to get there! I lined up behind EVERYONE because I was so late. Approximately 36 seconds after I stopped walking I heard the countdown to begin. Off we went.

The run was actually pretty good. I haven't exercised consistently (great New Years resolution huh?) in about 8 months. The first half was up hill, thankfully the end was all downhill. When I do these races I make a deal with myself that I will only walk if I am going to die. Death is a pretty distant reality if one is being serious with oneself, so I really just make myself run the whole time.

At the finish line I saw some friends and circled back to my distant parking spot to wait for a friend running the half-marathon. As she ran by me and snagged a high five, I, for the first time ever had a CRAZY thought. It was the pang of, I should do this. The half-marathon thing.

Interesting how the exercise euphoria can make one think absurd things. I hate running for a long time. I won't do a half-marathon. But I might just get back into this exercise thing. Who knows what I'll do then.