No, I'm not setting off to save Middle Earth. That would be pretty amazing though. I am, however, setting out to help eliminate blood cancer and learn how to run a race.
You might have noticed - or maybe you haven't, that's okay - I've run a few 5Ks recently. Why? I'm not really sure. I hated running as a child. I puked on my sixth grade teacher after being forced to run a mile in P.E. I dreaded running days throughout middle and high school. I managed to worm my way into a bowling class that counted as P.E. just so I wouldn't be required to run. College didn't change anything. I took a dance class to fill the requirement and, if I worked out, I was doing Zumba.
In short: if you had told me two years ago I would be running races now, I would have politely asked you to return to whatever mental asylum you had escaped from and please stop spouting such wild tales.
I digress.
Whatever pushed me to do that first 5K led me into doing more. Crossing the finish line was exciting. And each time I crossed, a little voice that grew progressively louder told me I could go longer. I could do a 10K. Look how fun the 5 was, the 10 would obviously be double that! So, the next obvious move was to sign up for the Tinkerbell 10K at Disneyland. But even that wasn't enough.
I have drunk the Kool Aid.
A friend of mine told me he was going to be a coach for this season's Team in Training. They were going to be doing the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. Train with people who know what they're doing? Raise money for blood cancer research? Sign me up! So . . . that's what I'm doing.
