My impulsivity sometimes gets me into trouble. Okay, MOST of the time it gets me into trouble. For example, when my friend Allie emailed me on Tuesday and asked if I wanted to do a 5K on New Year’s Day, I impulsively agreed. It wasn’t until later that day when I realized what I had agreed to. I said yes to running in the cold, the day after New Year’s Eve, when I was nowhere near physically prepared to do so. What the freaking what?!?

I didn’t want to let Allie down, though, so I stayed sober on New Year’s Eve, went home before midnight and mentally prepared to run the next day. I woke up early and ate some carbs. I think you’re actually supposed to eat carbs the night before to prepare, but I had filled up on cupcakes, so I figured eating some bread the day of wouldn’t hurt. Then I picked Allie up and we went to the YMCA Downtown to get our race on.

In the parking lot we helped each other pin our race numbers on our backs (which made me feel so official) and then walked to meet up with the group. Upon arrival, we realized we were actually supposed to put the numbers on the front. This would come back to haunt us later. For now, though, we tried our best to stretch and move to get warmed up. Twenty-degree weather was not exactly optimal for the run, but we made do. The start gun went off and the 5K began.

There were YMCA staff cheering us along as we jogged/walked the path. By mile two, we were almost in last with only a few people behind us. In our defense, we did stop to help a YMCA staffer and her daughter try to get their glove out of the river. I’m not sure how it got there, but being the concerned citizens we are, we stopped to help. Okay, okay. We really just wanted a break to stop and this was the perfect excuse. What of it? Anyway, around mile 2.5 people were racing towards us. I got scared. Were we really not almost done? Did we have to go back along the path again? Can I pretend to pass out now and get out of this? I asked a staffer what was happening and as the people sprinted past us, he nonchalantly said, “Oh, they’re just doing a cool down.” So not only are we dead last at this point but people are now lapping us while they do their cool downs?!? Get out!

As we turned the corner on 3rd Street we could see Broadway, where the finish line was. I was so excited. The end was in sight. Then a YMCA staff member at the finish line yelled out, “Are you guys with the race?” I could have died of embarrassement right then. Instead I yelled back, “Yes. We’re running just as fast as we can” (I knew that line would come in handy!) and then laughed the rest of the way to Broadway. If we would’ve had our race numbers on the front he could’ve seen we were with the racers, but apparently we were so far behind everyone else that he wasn’t clear if we were racing or just happened to be in the middle of the path. Anyway, when we turned on Broadway, the staffer who had yelled got in the middle of us, grabbed our hands and jogged with us through the finish line. We finished. Sure, when we turned around at the end, the staff were already packing up to go home, having been waiting so long for us to finish, but regardless…WE DID IT. It felt good.

So I guess in the end, my impulsivity actually worked to my advantage for once. Instead of prolonging it, I did the 5K now. I set a goal and accomplished it. It feels good. Mentally, anyway. Physically, my abs still hurt. I can’t tell if that’s from the race or from laughing so hard.

So, what’s next for me? Well I plan to adopt the motto, “And I ran. I ran so far away. I just ran. I ran all night and day” because you can’t go wrong with a little Flock of Seagulls, right?

On a serious note, although this will be my last “Running Just As Fast As I Can” column, my plan is to continue running. My new goal is to see how many 5Ks I can do in a year and see how much I can improve my time every race. Also I’d like to do the 5K next January 1st and not finish last. Or at least not be lapped by people who are just cooling down.

Related posts:

1. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can – Week 1
2. [move] Running Just as Fast as I Can: Week 8
3. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can: Week 4
4. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can: Week 2
5. [move] Running Just As Fast As I Can: Week 5