This morning, as I see the Tough Mudder finishing posts by friends on Facebook, I feel a tinge of guilt and a shred of shame for not having gone through with the race myself. I signed up for the race, and dragged two girlfriends in with me, on the high of another, much smaller, less intense obstacle race that I'd finished many months back. I knew at the time that I'd be running the Chicago Marathon and then the St. Pete Women's Half Marathon in the two months prior to the Tough Mudder event, but I hadn't anticipated feeling as weary and broken down as I did after the initial two races. I've never not run a race I signed up for (except in the case of an inhibiting injury), but the mere thought of struggling across monkey bars, swimming through cold mud-water, and subjecting myself to electrocution--all in the name of fun, mind you--made me feel anything but tough. And if my head wasn't in it, there'd be little hope of convincing my body through it. So I bailed and ate the pricey entry fee.
Even though it is still technically spring time, the summer college semester begins in one week, the weather is consistently sunny and mid-80s, and baseball season is in full bloom. I embrace this time of year as a time to extend my outside activities beyond my nightly walks, to bike rides, benefit runs, beach days, and a newfound interest in softball. Yesterday Joe and I began the day with a 7:25am 5K run to benefit the Child Abuse Council . One of Tampa's largest and most regular 5Ks, the Gunn Allen Financial May Classic brought out over 1,500 of Tampa's athletes and do-gooders. Since it was a last-minute decision for us to register, we did not have a a chance to train, but we had both been keeping a somewhat regular exercise schedule in the weeks leading up to the run. Our goal was to finish, preferably to finish running. And we did. 36 minutes of concrete pounding, rhythmic breathing, and humanistic awareness, and we had completed our first 5K together, having run th...
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