Some Call This Fun????

I set myself a goal a couple months ago to run a 5K race in our area. This last Saturday was the big day. I woke up still tired from an extra long week, and hearing the rain pour down. Well, I can't let a little rain or exhaustion stop me from my goal. So off I went to register for my race. Saying that I felt a little "out of place" was an understatement. I don't consider myself a "runner" by any stretch of the imagination. These people there looked like "real" runners, and they were out for their morning stroll! Three months ago, I went to the track to see what I could do with running. I ran one lap, and walked one lap (trying to recover from the running lap). I did that until I ran a full mile, and walked a mile. I was really pretty proud of myself, considering that less than a year earlier, I couldn't have even walked that far. Ever so slowly I have worked my way up in distance with running, but still not anything extraordinary. I currently run 4 miles (if I'm running a slight downhill the whole way), or I can run about 3.5 if I have some ups and downs. AND, my running is more like walking speed with a lot of bounce (I'm not too speedy). So back to the 5K race (3.2 miles). I figured this would be good for me to run with other people, maybe challenge me to run a little harder and faster. WRONGO!!! It was just plain torture. As soon as they said "GO", everyone (except yours truly and a maybe 3-4 others who I think were walking) was down the block and around the corner in the amount of time that I had taken maybe 3 steps (not much exaggeration there either). I tried to keep up to their pace, knowing that my family may have to give me an early burial, OR I could swallow my pride and slowly bounce my way through the race. I opted for the latter, since it is less expensive and more convenient than a funeral. The first half of the race, keeping at my own bouncing pace, was not too bad. Sure I was only a quarter of the way through when the first guy passed me going back the other way towards the finish line - but I was still all livin', and still runnin' - so no complaints! The torture came when I got to the half way mark and had to make my way back. Remember how I said it was raining? Well, the wind was blowing too. It wasn't a terrible wind, but when I was tired and running, it felt like a hurricane. So I had a hurricane in my face, and was running UP hill on the second half of the run. OUCH!!! When I finally got to the finish line, I decided then and there I would never do one of those again. Today...I still don't ever WANT to do one again, but I think I SHOULD do another one, just so I can either prove to myself that they really are THAT bad, or I can be proved wrong - that it was just a bad morning for me.

Yesterday a friend asked me if it was fun. I had to be honest and say "NO". I can't, for the life of me figure out why some of you call this "FUN". I guess I'll have to keep signing up for these things until I have the answer to that. So stay tuned, I'll report on this subject again later...much, much later! But you know, when all is said and done, I do feel a sense of accomplishment...and THAT is FUN!