Chapstick, check…calves stretched out, check…2nd pee break in 10 minutes, check…
At the starting line of a 5k?…nope…just on my way out front of the casa to meet the pack for the 7 mile run…and Im still nervous…
Which makes no sense as this is week 3 of the big Sunday run with girls. I have done this 2 other times, why do I still feel panicky about how its going to go?
Im a runner, dammit….a runner that feels like Nick Nolte looked in his last mug shot hours after I run, but I am a runner. I run 4-5 days a week, 2 1/2-7 miles at a clip, and I can talk while doing it…that alone kicks ass in my book..
But every time I think about standing on that muddy hill for the race with swarms of “fresh out of marine bootcamp” look alikes, Im freaked out… I guess I still don’t feel like I belong there, that Im not a “real athlete”.
I’ve got the endurance part down, and can even do a few guy push-ups…we are talking me here! The one with the nicknames princess and slacker can hold a plank like no one’s business. I guess because I never was an athlete and here I am, at the tail end of 39, doing a race like this one…I have to remember that no one but me will know that…and I doubt anyone is going to give me a second glance, Im sure they will be fixated on how the hell they are going to jump off a plank into frigid water…
One good thing about that fear is it’s sending me out that front door. In the pouring rain and high winds, 19 degree temps, even with, yes, a slight hangover. No..wait…a big ass hangover, and I still did it!!! Maybe fear is a good thing, as its forcing me to do what I said I would do…oh, that and 3 of my fellow mudder training partners that would come in and physically drag me outside to go with them, like it or not….
Hum, now that I think about it, our group has not allowed each other to fail, we tell each other to suck it up (like when weeks ago it was so cold and I was bitching, they told me it was warmer than it was, and I needed to get just get in the car.. liars)…. and the good natured ribbing is well, kind of fun….am I actually understanding *gasp* why people like sports??!!!!
So I’ll count on my girls to help me keep it a bay…I’ll be wearing our “slogan” with pride..and some fake bravado….
“It’s 32 get in car”
The Target dressing room mirror is a filthy liar 
I think I’d rather run in the cold than in the heat (training for a marathon when its over 100 degrees by 10am with 100% humidity is tempting God to kill you) but the rain is the deal breaker for me. I’ve only run in the rain once and it was b/c it was the actual race.
We are training for the PA tough mudder….in April….so Im hoping the freezing cold, wet and miserable conditions now will only prepare me for this: http://toughmudder.com/events/pennsylvania So, so scared! But hey anything with beer and free tattoos at the has to have a huge element of fun! …. Um, Right?