Back in August when school
started, the Huston Huffman Exercise Center sent out a flier stating they would
be holding a 5K Fun Run and a 1 mile walk. I asked Christie if she would
like to participate as I wanted to do the mile walk. She said yes so I
signed us up. Over the past few weeks Christie and I have been walking
and then she would do a run to get ready for the race.
Three weeks ago on a Tuesday she went to the Huff as we call it and got our
race packets. Each of us got a T-shirt and a timing chip for our shoes. I
did not have to wear mine as the mile walkers were not part of the sanctioned
race.
That next Saturday morning the alarm went off at 6 a.m. to which I got up and
started getting ready. You have to understand that I just never get up
immediately but will laze in bed for at least a good 15 minutes before
arising. Not yesterday. I got up, took care of business, ran my blood
test, went to the kitchen and fixed a fried egg sandwich on Hungry Girl fold-it
flat bread.
Christie got up about 6:45 a.m. and did her thing and then we
stretched and headed off for area where the race was being staged. We
along with 500 other people, dogs, strollers and wheelchairs bound participants
lined up at the starting line to await the sound of the starter pistol.
The 5K runners were in front of the walkers. The pistol went of and so
were the runners.
We walkers lined up and off we went to the sound of the
pistol. I started the race in good fashion but quickly discovered that my
left shoe was too tight and had to stop to make an adjustment. A third of
the way through the race my right foot started bothering me so I had to stop
again and re-adjust the right shoe. Ever since my knee surgery and due to
the fact that the Doctor changed the angle of my legs, my feet have bothered me
if I try to walk for any distance. I have been doing better and am
starting to make progress in the length of my walks.
With my water bottle in hand and my feet feeling fairly good I
struck out again at a decent pace for me. One foot in front of the
other, keep it up, you can do it. I rounded the corner and saw the finish
line in sight at the end of the block and kept plodding along. I moved to
the street as there were some other walkers in front of me that took up the
whole sidewalk. I saw the finish line clock in front of me and by the time
I crossed it 23:40 minutes had gone by. I felt good and felt like I could
have walked for at least another half mile or so. Instead I waited to see
Christie finish at a personal best time of 28:50 according to their
timer. Her Nike timer had her under that by 30 seconds or so. All I
know is she was real pleased.
We rested for a few minutes then went to the car to do cool down
exercises and to stretch. If felt good. I have never participated
in a race before, even though I did not race for racing itself, but rather to
get up, get out of the house and feel good about moving.
Walking...it does a body good!
Happy trails...
