Running Like a Fool

Like the fool that I am, I registered for the Salt Lake City Marathon's 5k event. It's on April 18th and is the reason I'm staying in Salt Lake for such a long time after my work was done. This will be my third time doing it, and when I first did it in 2006 I had dreams of getting better every year, going from the 5k to the half marathon and eventually to the marathon. Sadly, this has not happened; I actually ran slower the second year I did it! But I'm back this year after missing last year, and I must say that I am definitely a fool. I haven't been running for quite some time and am trying to cram it all in in just two weeks. I don't think it'll work out all that well, but I knew that I couldn't just wake up the morning of and try to do it.

So I've been running (I should really call it jogging, or walking fast) three times since registering a week ago. Since I don't live near a track like I do in New York, I have to settle for running along the sidewalk in the neighborhood. This is slightly embarrassing for me, as I don't like exercising in front of random people, but I'm slowly getting over that each day. And it's a good thing I'm at least trying to train for it, because that first run was pretty brutal; I didn't make it very far without panting and the deep desire to stop. But it's been getting a little better with each run, and hopefully by the time race day comes I'll be somewhat better prepared for it. Because really, I'm just doing it for the free t-shirt.