The Sisters Put on their Shoes!

Posted by Stacy

Steph was so pumped up about Mark's Tri and getting back in shape that when she discovered a nearby town was having a 5K fun run she got all excited. She mentioned we should enter the run and go for it, I think mostly as a plot to get me to stay a little longer in Utah and not so much because she actually wanted to run the dang thing. Motive aside, I took the bait and we went down and registered for the run the day before the race. Nice training huh? I figured that it's only been 4 weeks since I last ran and I could probably take it on without serious ramifications and Steph figured, oh heck, I don't know what she figured. Steph hasn't been on a real running regimen in some time so perhaps she figured when the race got tough she'd walk some of it. I thought it was a pretty bold move on her part! I was proud of her for doing it even if it was a plot.

This was a first for both of us, we had never entered any type of event like this...EVER. I'm not really fond of running in a large crowd of people (I'm not even fond of running at all). In fact, I've spent most of my sporadic and laughable jogging career exclusively on a treadmill. After my ACL surgery my darn knee has still never been the same so I've been babying it on the cushioned deck of a treadmill. That was until I was told by Keith Williams...ahemmm...Doctor Keith Williams, to "pre-medicate and move on". So I started chugging aspirin and hitting the pavement and it seems to work! Glory Be! I have since learned to like running outside and shunned my inner domesticated exerciser. Mailboxes and signposts have become my dear friends as I stretch my route farther down the road. And heck, I've never been honked at on my treadmill, you can't beat that!

So race day was interesting for a first-timer. They had so many people show up that they ran out of numbers. Of course Steph, who was in line right in front of me got one, but they ran out of numbers on me! So Steph got to be #462 and I just went by "The Purple Blob". As if that wasn't enough trauma for a first-time racer my headphones quit working so I ran sans music. How was I gonna run without Emeniem? I figured that most official races won't let you run with headphones anyway so I chalked it up to fate. Steph meanwhile, enjoyed her Barry Manilow or whatever she was listening to, lucky dog.

Not having raced before, it wasn't too terrible running in a crowded mass of scantily-clad people. I took it slow and easy until I overheard a young girl midway through the race tell her friend the pace and not to let me pass them. They had been walking and then sprinting, walking, sprinting, the entire first half and each time I would catch up to them when they were walking, they'd start to sprint. I really didn't care cause I was just keeping my normal pace-steady jog, that is until I heard them plotting on me! Of course when I overheard them, it got me all fired up so I picked up my pace, passed them up, and ran the last half a bit harder that I should have but they never did catch up! I wanted to tell them they just got passed by a 40-year old when I went by but I didn't. Too bad we didn't have our legs marked up like in Mark's Tri! So much for just keeping my pace, I couldn't help it, it was like a double-dog dare!

I end my tale by saying that there was nothing fun about that run and that calling it a "fun run" is very misleading. While I was jogging I kept thinking of alternate names they should have called the event:

• This-Really-Isn't-Fun Fun Run
• Sweat Under the Hot Sun Run
• Chaff your Fat Thighs Run
• This Is Making Me Cuss Too Much Run
  
• We're Just Calling it a Fun Run to Get You To Sign Up Run
• What the Hell Was I Thinking Run
  

By the look of this photo, Steph's probably making of her own names to call this race!I've discovered something interesting despite it all. These things can be kinda like getting a tattoo or jumping out of an airplane. Not sure it's a good idea at the time you're doing it but when it's over you get this sicko compulsion to do it again. So ultimately, I guess I'm going shopping for another run. Beats a tattoo right? And cheaper than jumping.

Here's Steph crossing the finish line! Way to go Steph! I'm sure she'll have a rebuttal tale to regale when she gets internet hooked up at her house! Can't wait to read her version. Until then, we sisters busted a move!And now, off to search for another run...
Race Results:

Stacy   38:48
Stephanie   41:46