Sorry. That title was just ridiculous. But I came home sick from work today and am firmly planted on my couch with a head cold. It’s not fatal and I’m hitting the Netty pot, the spinach/grapefruit/apple juice and the green tea pretty hard so I’m expecting a full recovery within 24 hours. Well, I BETTER get well that fast because Saturday, GUESS WHAT?!?! I’m running a 10K, People!!

Wow. Look at all those fast people in the 6-7 minute pace corral (pic from last year’s race). Yeah, I’ll be just a tad behind them . . . Coach Nat said this race attracts a lot of fast runners. Ya think??

But it’s going to be fun and  it’s going to fulfill a lot of firsts for me!!

1. I’ve never done a 10K in Dallas (I did one in Irving once, but never Dallas – and for the record I came in third place in my age group for the Irving one. There were only five people in my age group, so third place and third from last were the same thing but hey, an age group award is an age group award, right?)
2. I’ve never been for a run at White Rock Lake (much less a race!) even though I’ve lived in Dallas for 13 years (I know, right? I just hate driving places)
3. I’ve never been to a race with my great friend, Stephanie, from Food and Fitness 4 Real before! She knows I hate driving to places (see number 2) so the last time we had coffee she promised to be my driver for the next race she did. Fun!!

Now the problem is, as I said, I’m a little sick. BUT, I just did a 10K followed by a half marathon 2 weeks ago (at a little place called Disneyland, thank you very much – you can read about that here) AND I did pretty good mileage last week including a great speed session on the treadmill and a five mile run on Saturday, so even if I only get out a couple of times this week, I’ll be fine. May not be the fastest 10K EVER but will be fun!! And honestly, I’m looking at it as a big dang party to celebrate that we survived running through yet another Dallas summer!

This is not a picture of me

I feel like all of us that trained straight through (and only every once in awhile hit the dreadmill) should get some sort of huge gift card or at least a plaque or a statue in our honor or SOMETHING. It’s a big deal to hang in there and get those miles in during our summers and we need to celebrate!

I asked Stephanie about the attire for this race and she said no tiara;). But I’m very tempted to buy one of those Headsweats visors with the sequins and the tiara because they are SOOOOO beautiful! I will most likely go with just my black running skirt and a tank. It’s for the Dallas Arboretum, though, so I may need to go buy something fun and flowery. Hmmmm . . wonder how my “running clothes” budget is holding up.

Oh, also another big first for me? Last night I participated in my first #runchat on Twitter! It was insane and so much fun! “Met” some awesome people and got some great advice. But don’t try to tweet about running and watch the Miss America pageant and tweet about the Miss America pageant all at the same time after a long day of pastoring and when you have a head cold because it can get very confusing. I know, right?

OK, short and sweet today. Hoping to feel well enough for an easy 3 miles in the morning if for no other reason than it will get this cold moving through my system. And yes, many times going for a run helps me feel better when I’m sick but we shall see. Oh, and here’s a little article from the NY Times that back me up on this: Don’t Starve a Cold of Exercise

I hope you all are off to a wonderful start this week – that you are feeling grateful for the life you lead and joyful in your choices! And if you’re not, I hope you’ll consider turning to a God who loves you and will lead you to some peace.

Happy Running!

Jen