Winner of the First Annual My-Town* 5k!!

Just another instance where I show that I am not a real runner, but just a crazy girl who likes to laugh and have fun, oh, and sometimes run while doing it. 😀

*Please note: whenever you see the words “My Town” in the following post, in real life, I substitute the actual name of the town where I live for those words. But, because there are crazy people on the Internet, I am not actually putting the name of my town in this blog post. But know that, in my head, that’s how I say it. 😉 

This morning I had the hardest time getting up and getting motivated to run the 3 miles that was scheduled.  We had so much going on this past weekend that I never had a chance to really rest after my six-mile run.   So, it shouldn’t be too surprising that I couldn’t find the enthusiasm to get out of bed when the alarm went off at 7am.  This is the first time I can remember in my eight weeks of 10k training that I haven’t been excited to get out of bed and run.  All I could think of this morning was, “But I just ran six whole miles on Saturday. Why do I have to run again today?” [Imagine that in an appropriately whiny voice and you have the full experience.]

I did eventually get up (twenty minutes late) and prepare for my run.  Because I was running later, the temps were getting pretty high.

I made sure to grab a washcloth to tuck into my waistband, since I knew it was going to be a hot one, and then I headed out, ready to tackle a “measly” three-mile run.

It didn’t take long for me to feel awful.  It was so damn hot…and humid.  I was not expecting the humidity, but boy, it found me.  After a mile, I was just so ready to be done with that run.  Still, I trudged along, not wanting to be a quitter.  I kept pulling out my washcloth from where I had it tucked in the waistband of my shorts, which was kind of a pain.  Eventually, I hit upon the idea of tucking it in the band of my Garmin so that it was always ready.

I’m sure I’m not the first runner to think of this, but I was quite proud of my idea, since I am the furthest thing from an engineer.

I was relieved to turn around at the 1.5 mile mark, but it seemed like the run just got harder with every step toward home.  I kept thinking to myself, “Why is this so hard? It’s only three miles—I ran six on Saturday, and it wasn’t that much cooler!”

When I hit the two-mile mark, and I heard my Garmin beep, a sudden thought struck me—three miles isn’t really “measly.”  I mean, there are people who train for months to run three miles (well, three miles plus one tenth).  It’s called a 5k!  The more I thought about it, the more I began to justify the fact that I was doing something that wasn’t all that easy…people strive to do 5ks, and then they never run again.  And here I was, pretty much running a 5k just as a “short-mileage training run.”

When I realized this, I started thinking that if I just added one tenth of a mile to my scheduled run, I could technically say I ran a 5k today.  And, I could even call it the “First Annual My-Town  5k.”  Because that sounds kinda cool.  And, not only would I be able to count it as a race in my repertoire…well, by golly, I would be assured of coming in first place! 😉

The heat must have started to get to me, because I began to envision myself running an actual 5k…like, an honest to goodness race, there, on my road.  I started to think how cool it would be to have a picture of me “finishing” this 5k, and how I could totally raise my arms up at the finish line, and people would be cheering.  (I suspect I’ve been reading too many posts from Kelly, aka sublurbanmama , who has taken this kind of thinking and made it an art form. If you haven’t visited her blog yet–do it! You’ll be glad you did.)

I was so hot and so thirsty (damn me for not buying a hand-held water bottle yet!), but somehow, the thought of this imaginary 5k kept me going.  I trudged along, never even looking at my Garmin during the last mile (with the washcloth stuck in there, it was turned at an odd angle anyway).  I just kept imagining my awesome finish at the First Annual My-Town 5k, and how great it was going to feel to cross the “finish line.”

Doing that extra tenth of a mile meant I would have to actually pass my house and turn the corner.  By the time I got there, I knew I wanted a picture. Because at that point, it was totally a real 5k in my head.  I waved at the house, hoping DS#1 was looking out the window, and made little camera pantomimes in his general direction, pointing to the other side of the house, where I would end up.  I was so delirious happy, thinking how awesome this finish was going to be, and my son would be there to get it all on film digital image.

I’d liked to say it worked and he was there right when I needed him, but I think he must have been watching Sponge Bob or something, because he was nowhere to be found.  So yes, the following pictures are posed after-the-fact, but if it makes any difference, I did not get water or even take a break before I ran into the house, yelled at him to grab the camera and come outside, and then ran back out to get these shots.  I was still hot, sweaty and horribly thirsty—that counts for something, right?

You can see me laughing at the end, because I’d told him about my “First Annual My-Town 5k” idea, and as we took the pictures, we both found it really, really funny.  It’s good to laugh at yourself! (Especially when you’re crazy from the heat.)

After we were done with the pictures, I mentioned to him that I was kind of bummed that my “First Annual My-Town 5k” did not come with a medal.  Bless his heart, he immediately replied, “You can have one of my hockey medals, Mom!” He ran upstairs and got one to give to me.  Now, as his team manager, I have chosen all of his hockey medals since his first season, so I know them all, and I can honestly say that the one he chose to give me was the coolest medal of the 7 or 8 that he has.  I said, “Really? You would give this to me?” He said, “Sure.  You deserve it.  You came in first!”  I talk a lot of grief about him, but I love that kid. 😀  I told him we could share it.  Here’s the picture he took of me with it.

When I got back inside and cooled down, I was feeling pretty good about my newly-christened 5k.  In the back of my mind, though, something was missing.  You see, one of the things I like about running is that a portion of the fee for every race I enter goes towards a charity.  It may not always be a charity that I am passionate about, but it’s a charity, and that makes me feel good.  In my mind, it’s not a real race if it doesn’t contribute to help someone else in some way.  And then I realized that I had the power to change that in an instant!  I quickly logged onto the website of my favorite charity, the Salvation Army, and immediately donated $20.  I thought about donating $25 (what seems to be the usual race fee), but since I just found out my husband is taking a 10% pay cut, effective yesterday :(, I decided $20 was enough.  Besides, who knows how much of a normal race fee actually goes to the charitable organization? For my race, I know that the whole $20—100% of the proceeds!—went to the Salvation Army!

Once I made that donation, I really felt good about my run this morning.  I had a personal record time (okay, it was only my second 5k, but still—I beat my first time! 😉 ), I got a medal, and I contributed to a worthy cause.  What more could I ask for??

I suspect I’m probably not the first person to do this, but I’m going to lay claim to this great idea until someone else says to me, “Hey, I did that first!”  :p I joke about it being the “first annual,” but I can assure you that I am absolutely going to do this again next year, during the first week of July.  Because I may have just started this running thing, but I plan to still be running one year from now!

So, if you’re looking for something fun and interesting to do to shake up your running routine this week, why not have a “First Annual Your-Town 5k”?  Go out and run 3.1 miles, give yourself a medal (or something that represents a medal), and then donate an amount to charity.  And then you, too, can have a run that is both fun and purposeful.  🙂

If you do it, make sure you let me know…I would love to hear your story!

Thanks for reading!