5k

I fancy myself to be many things I am not or things that I used to be. The most recent fancy is that I am physically fit. When I was in college I took up running. While my peers were donning legwarmers and tight body suits and working out to Jane Fonda or some other aerobic exercise casette tape, I was running around in the snow and ice of Logan. I was cold a lot but I liked the solitary hour I enjoyed thinking without Jane Fonda telling me what to do. In retrospect, people should have stopped listening to Jane Fonda about twenty years before but that's beside the point.

Two months ago we got a flyer in the mail about a 5k run for Child Abuse Awareness. I've always wanted to do a 5k and I thought it would be a fun family activity. The deadline for early registration came and went and I started questioning my dedication to this worthy cause. In fact, I was quite disappointed when my husband, who is on the Child Abuse Council, told me it was for child abuse prevention not promotion.

The day before the event, I went out to dinner with a friend. I announced that I was running a 5k tomorrow morning. Without missing a step or a beat, she replied, "You can't do it." I made a poor show of arguing with her but I knew I hadn't even tried to warm up to it. I had put on my running shoes once in the past two months and I ran on a rubberized track. When I say "ran," I mean I ran until I saw someone I knew and stopped and talked for awhile then ran again until I found somebody else I knew.

The morning of the event, it was raining. I asked everybody if they wanted to go. My 14 year old daughter decided to humor me. She stayed with me throughout the whole thing and I enjoyed her company immensely. That was the longest 5k I've ever known. Since that was my first 5k, I really had no idea how long it could be. I came home wiped out. My daughter bounced back within a half hour. My husband wanted to know if I stretched out properly before and after the 5k. I hadn't stretched out at all. He asked me if I realize how old I am. I found that remark condescending.

Later that day, my baby sister who did a triathlon last month told me she felt lazy because she only ran 6 miles yesterday. My husband went to an indoor track later in the day and breezed through four miles then came home and announced it to me.

Insensitive brats.