Race for the Cure

Today I spent my morning downtown participating in Race for the Cure. I signed up for the 5K to support Kristine and my friend Nicole came with me. Now, I am not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, but I figured I would at least be able to walk it if nothing else. Since I haven't run since "fitness for death" at BYU, I did convince myself to do a few trial runs before the actual race. I ran a little over a mile, twice. I would have to say that I wasn't very commited to the idea. In fact, I kept hoping up until we got there, that I would break my leg, or something drastic so that I could just "sleep in for the cure" instead. I was regretting this lofty idea of suppporting my friend in this manner (sorry Kristine!).

Now the funny part of this, is that ever since college I have had this weird idea that I wanted to do a triathalon with no training. I wanted to see how far I could push my body and what I could accomplish "naturally". Very foolish idea. I apologize to all the serious athletes, who actually train and work hard, for thinking that I could just do it without any training and very little natural athleticism. Silly, silly me....

So today I started out running and then walked and then ran and just sort of did what I wanted to do. I even stopped to use the porta potty. My initial intent was to try to run at least half of it but apparently I lack the drive necessary to make myself do something that I really don't have to do. After all, it was for a cause, not for a competition. They weren't even really timing it for pete's sake! My lack of mental strength was bit shocking to me. Even though I felt pretty good the entire time I was out there, now that I have had a shower and stopped for a little while, I am totally feeling it! My legs, my back, my arms and pretty much everything hurts. I would love to just curl up in a ball and go back to sleep. Too bad I have things that need to be accomplished this afternoon.

I would have to say that the best part of the event was simply the feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself. There were 18,000 people participating, most of whom have been touched by breast cancer in some way. I ran behind a little boy whose sign said "in support of my mom, survivor of 5 years", he couldn't have been more than 8 or 9 years old (that will be your girls, Kristine). There were many others, running in memory of loved ones, and roughly 600 survivors who also ran. It was heartwarming to see so many people joined together for a good cause. I am saving the memory to remind me, that there IS hope for this world when I am depressed about the future from reading the news for too long. Probably the other most impactful thing was a keychain we received. It has 4 circles on it, the first about 1 mm diameter, about the size of a pea. This stands for the average size of a lump which is detected through a mammogram when they have previous films to look at. The second circle is about 1 1/2 mm. It represents the average size of a lump that is discovered with a first mammogram. The third circle is about 2 mm in diameter and represents the average lump that can be found doing regular self exams. The fourth circle is about 3 1/2 mm and represents the average size lump that is discovered by accident. I don't know about anyone else, but I would not want to find something the size of a half dollar by accident.

I am definitely glad that I was there today, and did not break my leg. However, I am also almost, definitely sure, that running is not my thing. I may live to eat my words, but for now I am going back to my dreams of becoming a pro golfer. Look for me on the golf channel in a few more years!