Yesterday I was up at 0700. Not necessarily because I wanted to be, but because my husband had signed up for a Heart Walk in downtown Charleston, and included me. We had weekend guests who had come to visit and I didn't want to leave them, but this walk had been committed to months earlier, so it was a have to situation. I jumped up(OK , so I reluctantly rolled out of bed) got some breakfast laid out for our company, and then started to get ready for the walk. I decided that since I had company and probably would not be able to take more time to train on this day, I would kill two birds with one stone and make this walk part of my training. That way I could do the walk quickly and get back home to our guests and the fun.
I looked outside and the skies were gray and it was drizzling, this was not a good sign. It was about this time that my husband informed me that we had "tee shirts" for the walk. Oh course I immediately asked, "what size did you get me?". He replies, "I started to get you a small but then I thought you might like it a little loose so you can move better, so I ended up getting you a medium ". A medium! Did you say MEDIUM!" This means I am going to have to walk in the rain with puff ball hair looking like a stuffed chili pepper (they were green) in a too small tee shirt that will probably only get smaller as it gets wetter. My mood was rapidly going from bad to worse.
I put on the tee shirt and tried to position it around my mid section so it wasn't quite so clingy. I finally said to myself, "you are new in town, no one will know you or care...just suck it up and go. So I literally sucked it up, (my gut that is) and went. The shirt was clinging tightly to my pinnaculum. For those non medical folks, that means the stomach bulge located below the navel that has a tendency to fall forward and down. On some, it can actually hang as low as the mid thigh region. This made me feel very self conscience but this was after all a charity event. Wearing this would be my sacrifice for the charity.
We arrived at the starting line right on time. There were hundreds of other folks already there ready to participate. I spent a few minutes eyeing the crowd, trying to find those who I thought might be my competition. I saw a little bit of everything, some very fit folks looking like serious runners, to those with oxygen tanks in back packs. The race got off to a late start, but off we went. At the start it was a very slow pace as everyone vied for their spot in the road. As I said, this was to be my work out for the day so I had to get into my zone. The problem was there were so many little groups walking together, they had themselves strung out across the whole width of the street. I was trying to weave in and out of the crowd, in hopes of getting to a spot where I could hit my stride. I would find what I thought was a good spot, but then I would shortly catch up to the next group of "strollers", which meant another weaving in and out episode. This went on for a good half a mile. Finally I hit an open area with fast walkers ahead of me. I was walking hard with a quick step. It really was feeling more difficult to do this than in past days. I felt heavy, each step was taking more effort than usual. I finally decided that it was due to the 94% humidity that was registering. It was not raining, but the clouds full of water were looming right over our heads. I almost wished it would just go ahead and rain, maybe that would cool me down, even if it meant further shrinkage of my already too small tee shirt. I kept my pace steady and was able to sustain, but it was hard work.
We looped around the Battery which meant we were at the half way mark. I was starting to question if I was going to be able to finish at this pace, I was definitely tiring. I came up behind a woman walker who had her little orange Pomeranian dog on a leash. The dogs full thick coat of hair was blowing in the breeze, as her tiny little feet tapped the ground in rapid succession. She panted fiercely with her tongue was hanging out . I got to thinking about how many more steps than me that little dog would have to take to finish and how all that hair must make her feel like she is working out while wearing a full length mink coat (don't forget in 94% humidity). I was starting to feel a bit sorry for the canine. I asked the woman at the other end of the leash, "how old is your dog?". She is two, she replied". Well, I thought to myself, "she has youth on her side." The little dog continued to work it down the sidewalk, staring straight ahead with the most determined of looks on her face. It was right then and there I decided, I am not going to let this little flea bag beat me! I have longer legs and not nearly that much hair! What's a few years of age, when I have all my other advantages. So as I passed them I said to the woman holding the leash, "I have a daughter who is a long distance runner; she has a black lab that is seven years old and she runs her eight miles at a time." "Wow, the woman says, that is impressive". The little dog stumbled a bit, I am sure caving into the pressure of her owner's admiration of another dog. Off I went with a little snicker feeling totally good about myself.
On the final leg of the route I noticed several elderly folks with very stiff gaits ahead of me. I am sure they were cheating and had not walked the whole distance. There is no way they could have possibly gotten ahead of me at that pace. I looked around for some event staffers so I could point the frauds out to them and make sure that these obvious fakes were not given full credit for walking the entire event. Fortunately, I could find no one. I say fortunately because I was starting to realize; this isn't a race, this is a benefit walk. No one was or had been keeping score except for me. Most everyone out there was there to raise money for heart research while happening to take a leisurely walk with thier family, friends, coworkers and dogs. There was no need to compete with short legged animals, or geriatrically challenged people. There had really been no reason to have become so unnerved earlier about the too small tee shirt. Isn't it nice to think my husband still thinks I'm a medium? I need to be more relaxed, less ready to jump at everything that might not be just as I have anticipated or planned it to be. Hmmmmm..maybe walking and running makes you nicer? That could very well be why my daughter is so nice. She gets all her pinned up anxieties out through her running. She gets to put things in perspective, she's figured out what is really important. There really might be something to this. I came away from this event with a desire to continue working on getting stronger physically while trying to be more emotionally balanced. I will keep my eye focused on the goal as I continue to be....... inspired by my daughter.
I looked outside and the skies were gray and it was drizzling, this was not a good sign. It was about this time that my husband informed me that we had "tee shirts" for the walk. Oh course I immediately asked, "what size did you get me?". He replies, "I started to get you a small but then I thought you might like it a little loose so you can move better, so I ended up getting you a medium ". A medium! Did you say MEDIUM!" This means I am going to have to walk in the rain with puff ball hair looking like a stuffed chili pepper (they were green) in a too small tee shirt that will probably only get smaller as it gets wetter. My mood was rapidly going from bad to worse.
I put on the tee shirt and tried to position it around my mid section so it wasn't quite so clingy. I finally said to myself, "you are new in town, no one will know you or care...just suck it up and go. So I literally sucked it up, (my gut that is) and went. The shirt was clinging tightly to my pinnaculum. For those non medical folks, that means the stomach bulge located below the navel that has a tendency to fall forward and down. On some, it can actually hang as low as the mid thigh region. This made me feel very self conscience but this was after all a charity event. Wearing this would be my sacrifice for the charity.
We arrived at the starting line right on time. There were hundreds of other folks already there ready to participate. I spent a few minutes eyeing the crowd, trying to find those who I thought might be my competition. I saw a little bit of everything, some very fit folks looking like serious runners, to those with oxygen tanks in back packs. The race got off to a late start, but off we went. At the start it was a very slow pace as everyone vied for their spot in the road. As I said, this was to be my work out for the day so I had to get into my zone. The problem was there were so many little groups walking together, they had themselves strung out across the whole width of the street. I was trying to weave in and out of the crowd, in hopes of getting to a spot where I could hit my stride. I would find what I thought was a good spot, but then I would shortly catch up to the next group of "strollers", which meant another weaving in and out episode. This went on for a good half a mile. Finally I hit an open area with fast walkers ahead of me. I was walking hard with a quick step. It really was feeling more difficult to do this than in past days. I felt heavy, each step was taking more effort than usual. I finally decided that it was due to the 94% humidity that was registering. It was not raining, but the clouds full of water were looming right over our heads. I almost wished it would just go ahead and rain, maybe that would cool me down, even if it meant further shrinkage of my already too small tee shirt. I kept my pace steady and was able to sustain, but it was hard work.
We looped around the Battery which meant we were at the half way mark. I was starting to question if I was going to be able to finish at this pace, I was definitely tiring. I came up behind a woman walker who had her little orange Pomeranian dog on a leash. The dogs full thick coat of hair was blowing in the breeze, as her tiny little feet tapped the ground in rapid succession. She panted fiercely with her tongue was hanging out . I got to thinking about how many more steps than me that little dog would have to take to finish and how all that hair must make her feel like she is working out while wearing a full length mink coat (don't forget in 94% humidity). I was starting to feel a bit sorry for the canine. I asked the woman at the other end of the leash, "how old is your dog?". She is two, she replied". Well, I thought to myself, "she has youth on her side." The little dog continued to work it down the sidewalk, staring straight ahead with the most determined of looks on her face. It was right then and there I decided, I am not going to let this little flea bag beat me! I have longer legs and not nearly that much hair! What's a few years of age, when I have all my other advantages. So as I passed them I said to the woman holding the leash, "I have a daughter who is a long distance runner; she has a black lab that is seven years old and she runs her eight miles at a time." "Wow, the woman says, that is impressive". The little dog stumbled a bit, I am sure caving into the pressure of her owner's admiration of another dog. Off I went with a little snicker feeling totally good about myself.
On the final leg of the route I noticed several elderly folks with very stiff gaits ahead of me. I am sure they were cheating and had not walked the whole distance. There is no way they could have possibly gotten ahead of me at that pace. I looked around for some event staffers so I could point the frauds out to them and make sure that these obvious fakes were not given full credit for walking the entire event. Fortunately, I could find no one. I say fortunately because I was starting to realize; this isn't a race, this is a benefit walk. No one was or had been keeping score except for me. Most everyone out there was there to raise money for heart research while happening to take a leisurely walk with thier family, friends, coworkers and dogs. There was no need to compete with short legged animals, or geriatrically challenged people. There had really been no reason to have become so unnerved earlier about the too small tee shirt. Isn't it nice to think my husband still thinks I'm a medium? I need to be more relaxed, less ready to jump at everything that might not be just as I have anticipated or planned it to be. Hmmmmm..maybe walking and running makes you nicer? That could very well be why my daughter is so nice. She gets all her pinned up anxieties out through her running. She gets to put things in perspective, she's figured out what is really important. There really might be something to this. I came away from this event with a desire to continue working on getting stronger physically while trying to be more emotionally balanced. I will keep my eye focused on the goal as I continue to be....... inspired by my daughter.
Wow Mom that was the best one yet. Smoot dog says thanks for the shout out. Really you are one silly dame out there racing animals.
ReplyDeleteLoved hearing about it though, dear me you make me laugh and I am holding my breath until the next installment.
I forgot to mention I also laughed about your attempt to disqualify elderly people walking thier little hearts out.
ReplyDelete