Teresa’s Big Adventure or Running with the Big Girls

The Pulse sent out an email about this a couple weeks ago saying that June 2^nd was National Running Day and they were having three runs: a 5 a.m. 5 mile run, a 6 p.m. 2 mile family run, and a 7 p.m. 7 mile run. I didn't give it much thought because I started thinking about all the things that can go wrong when you run outside...big dogs, potholes, rocks, falling down and hitting your head, and more bad things that I haven’t even thought of yet.

This morning, when I realized today was National Running Day, I thought, "I can do this." Even though the furthest I have ever gone is a little over 3 miles and I walk one minute for every three minutes of running, I thought it’s time to stop being ruled by fear. I can do this.

I went down and talked to Rachel first, apologizing already for being slow. She said they would be happy to take me and would match my pace and stay with me through the walks. She was encouraging and laughed when I said I had a cell phone so if I fell down and needed help, I could call 911.

Pretty soon, I'm out at 5:30 a.m. with two women who have run in the Boston Marathon and one who qualified to run in the Boston Marathon. What have I gotten myself into, I wondered. This is like saying you're going for a leisurely bike ride and Lance Armstrong shows up.

They were very kind, though, and did match my pace, stuck with me through my walks, and even when I said I was headed back, they met up with me after a while and we ran in the last few blocks together. I ran 4.33 miles with a few walking breaks.

I'm not sure what I'm prouder of...the running with those strong women or overcoming my fear of dogs and potholes!

I met up with some teacher friends at the end of the day at one of the local watering holes. We had some appetizers and some wine and a few dark beers. We had to say good-bye to a teacher who is retiring. Oh, my. Change is hard to take sometimes.

Regis and I came in to watch a little mindless television and the screen looks like a Picasso collage. What the hell. As I've said before, if anything happens to Regis (like an alien ship sucks him up), I will have to give the television away because I have not idea how to operate it. No flippin' clue. I push random buttons until something comes on and then I try to make the next thing come on. I've decided that I lived without internet and cable television before and I can do it again.

So, we call the internet provider and they ask about a million questions to make sure we are the people on the account. Like who else will call and ask about  our stupid ass television service? They can't come until Friday so we shut the thing off, turn it back on, and it works. Imagine.