I did it! Despite a very discouraging downpour - my very encouraging running buddy and I hit the pavement this morning at 8am. Turnout was low since the weather was awful and this is California after all. People aren't accustomed to roughing it in the elements.
Since I have never considered myself a runner (and still don't actually) I don't have real running shoes, just some all-purpose athletic-y type that I wear to the gym. I got a painful blister but at least it didn't happen until we were almost done. We were pretty soaked from head to toe just a few minutes into the race. Make that one minute. Or less.
Most of the race we ran next to a super-fit mother who was trying to make her two children run the 5K this blustery, wet morning. From the very start the 9 year-old girl was lagging behind and wanting to quit. Watching the mom cajole her and lie about how they were "almost there" was sad. It seemed cruel, unusual and the foretelling of a future eating disorder and lots of other issues. After the race I heard the mom trying to convince her daughter to have an orange slice instead of a mini bagel. Maybe this is all normal. To me it seemed sad. What do you think?
Speaking of kids - I raised $100 for StandUp For Kids this morning, thanks to Juanita's generous donation. Thank you so much!!! Please consider making a donation to this amazing cause that reaches out to kids who live homeless on our streets right here in the US. Click HERE to donate.
Sooooooo, cut to the chase, right? Well, you can guess that if I ran alongside a 9-year old who complained the whole time I didn't finish first. My time was 41:20 I think, results will be posted officially tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment