I’m not much an exerciser, but I do have a friend, Biray, who is fanatical about it. I’ve always complained about having time and the damn hot desert summers (which don’t end until Halloween!), but when she decided to offer an online jogging class I didn’t have any excuses left so I signed up. I’ve actually been doing pretty well, and I feel great! I’ve been fighting some Crohn’s issues recently so as long as they aren’t on the day I want to exercise, then I am ok.

Recently Biray invited us all to run a 5K with her (3.2 miles), and I signed up without really letting myself chicken out. I knew I wouldn’t run it, and I begged my friend Joe to go with me because I figured he was out of shape too and wouldn’t make me look too bad.

I had no idea what to expect, and I was totally out of my element. I would’ve never done it alone but Biray, Coop, and Joe were there with me. We got there early, registered, got out free shirts, and then waited until 8AM. There was a huge crowd there, and when they said “Go!” I was just like “Oh my God, here we go!”. The first part was grass, and I’m not use to grass. Then we had some rolling hills. Joe said he’d jog til he needed to walk, and he went way farther than me. But then I caught up and we were near each other for more than half, and then he fell behind and I began playing games where I’d pick a point and jog to it, then slow down and walk. Then start over. It was a great strategy for me! I finished in 41 minutes and I felt great! I feel really good.

Here’s the video Coop shot of me finishing the race!