Brenda likes to run. It seems that in nearly every town we visit, she has already researched the local running trails, and sometimes finds 5km races to run. I’m really impressed by her dedication, because although I dabble at running myself, my reasons for running have nothing to do with enjoyment, competition, or sense of personal accomplishment. Mostly I run because it’s free and portable, and if I don’t do some kind of physical exercise I start to feel like Jabba the Hutt.
That being said, when Brenda mentioned that she was going to run a 5K fundraiser for Great Results Equine Assisted Therapies (GREAT for short) this weekend in Shreveport, LA, I thought, what the heck. Three miles, I can handle that. It might even be fun!
We finished our Friday night performance at 2 A.M., crawled into bed, and woke up at 6:30 to be picked up at 7 by our friend Beverley, who very graciously offered to drive us to the race. (For the record, Beverley stayed until the very end of our show, and then had to get up even earlier than us in order to pick us up- now that’s a friend!!) We arrived at the race site, registered, stretched, pinned our numbers to our shirts (I was lucky number 87), and away we went.
Mile one: I run like the wind. Ok, maybe not like the wind. But I run.
Mile two: I notice that my main competition is a man in his 60’s and an 8-year-old girl. I’m so cool.
Mile three: My knee says that getting three hours of sleep and then inflicting physical torture on it is just evil, so it decides to get even. I walk the rest of the race and tell my knee it’s being stupid and petty.
When I cross the finish line, Brenda and Beverley are cheering me on from the other side. My final time was 40:27, which considering I walked half the race was actually respectable. I mean, I wasn’t the last person to finish, people! Victory is mine!!
We went back to the hotel, and I promptly curled up under my blankets. As I drifted off to dreamland, I started thinking about the next race…
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Sarah
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