Did It Again!

This past week, Marine older-brother Sarge twisted my arm about another 5K, and I decided to go for it… the starting point was right outside the back gate, in one of the community parks! Rather than driving an hour and a half each way, I got to sleep later (up sixish last weekend!), warm and eat a nice breakfast, then step outside. I strolled across the footbridge, got my race packet, bib, and tracking chip… and walked back home, got one more caffeinated sip, said Hi again to Maude the cat, grabbed some tissues/napkins, and walked back to the starting line, still 'way early!

Like last week, I walked most of today's course, but also sprinted/jogged a couple short stretches… and somehow managed to knock several minutes off last week's time. The folks at last week's event had me crawling past the finish line at… around [mumbled number] minutes, so I'd at least walked my age, which gets easier as you get older.

This time 'round, here in town, I finished at 49:02… right between a six-year-older and a ten-year-older, according to the posted printout. This seems to indicate I'm getting younger – underscored by that age-group bracket; heh-heh.

I still didn't dud myself up seasonally, unlike these folks:

 

 

…but should've at least brought along my jingle-bells, dang it. There was a real-beard Santa in kilt (bagpipes would've been stunning!), plus a passel of elves, a woman dressed like a school bus, some more trotting kids decked out as li'l snowmen, poochies like reindeer… fun!

The two gals joining Goofy Santa above (really cool gloves, Goof!) are labeled "Dasher" and "Prancer", but could easily have worn tags that both said "Vixen"… never mind. And they finished long ahead of me, fluffy tails and all.

The course covered a few chunks of some of the places friend Gwynne and I took in during our own walks last year (and much earlier), both nighttime and afternoon… so I relived some of those good memories of her company, and as always sent up some extra prayers. I hope she felt especially blessed this morning. Hah; she IS! It would have been great to have her along this morning, of course – and her nurse-mom with the stethoscope and nitro pills, just in case.

One of the several great things about hosting Gwynne here, a year and a half back, was all the walking we did. I lost maybe twenty pounds over that two-plus-month span… I seem to've found them again, and would like to drop them by the wayside once more, along with their cousins and friends.

This is just one way and part of an-even-slightlier healthier lifestyle. Plus Rosie next door (my other Sarge – and a friend of Gwynne's as well) encourages it – and where the heck was she this morning, anyway? I'll have to check… she was probably completing a marathon someplace (she's a sixty-something grandmother), maybe even the 5/10K at the military base in the city, where my brother and his wife were doing their own running this morning.

Brother and sister-in-law (hyong-su nim) were supposed to be at today's local course, but at the last minute found they had a conflict – that on-base run. Hah! No conflict for them; they got to visit the commissary afterward.

The cold air – had to be in the thirties – was so crisp it almost crackled… and was quite invigorating, too, given my thick coat, sweatshirt underneath, and knit cap. And the route was easy, with only one uphill stretch, and a couple nice downhills. Bonus: I now know an exact 5K course in my own neighborhood to practice on.

 

Another 5K... Survived

…you know, as you get older and keep practicing, it gets easier every year to run your age. I walked mine today – I think I really did cross the line at the [mumble]-minute mark.

 

Just after starting, and by tradition, I called up childhood friend Spartacus. It's been two or three years since my last 5K, and almost always I call while setting out… and give him a hard time about strange, panting men on the phone. I did the same this morning, of course, and regaled him briefly in crummy Italian, before wishing him and famiglia and pooch well, and pholded up my phone.

 

For most of the course, I was right behind a grandmother, who was garbed up – like many other walkers and runners – for the Christmas season. There were elves, three snowmen, walking giftbags, a Mrs. Santa, a Grinch or two – and an actual Christmas tree that ran the full 10K. To the friendly, chatty reindeer tail and cap in front of me, at about the first-mile mark, I said, "Is your husband running the 10K?"

 

"He's hunting," she explained, waving off toward the mountains. It was nice Northeast US rural farmland, with Colonial-era limestone farmhouses… and even a 1920s-era rusting tractor roadside.

 

I grinned, and pointed out, "And here you are in the country, wearing a pair of antlers. Good thinking!"

 

That got me a snort. We later finished up by sprinting the last couple yards, having walked the rest. And I picked up a seasonal race shirt, so that'll be under some Whoville Who's Christmas tree.

 

I'm not as reluctant to take on the next 5K, whatever my Marine older-brother twists my arm for… and I'm embarrassingly a bit sore about the feet and hips, for having hoofed it for under an hour. But I was still vertical when I finished, which is always a good thing.

Moving Day for the Aging Child

Copied over from my prior blog site and host:

Good afternoon, loyal reader!

(…"loyal reader", meaning "sole reader"…)

Last week, I set up this blog's successor – well, transplantee might be a better term. For now, I'll mostly be moving over into it this old site's postings, until maybe just this single page remains here.

That'll take a while; I may drop new foolscap in here regularly as well.

This where to find me: http://1MT2mb.BlogSpot.com/.

See you next door!

Regards,

A. Gene Childe