Special Treats

This weekend was a special one. Yeah, yeah, another weekend and another 5K, I do have one scheduled for every Saturday this month. What makes this one special? This was a return to my hometown. I rarely come back to visit and have been gone for eighteen years now. When I do come back, I certainly never ran a race. Thinking back, I remember one summer either when I was a freshman or a sophomore toying with the idea of joining the cross country team. There was hardly any serious effort put into that idea, but I do remember running with a portable cassette player a few times. When's the last time you've seen one of those? Anyway, it was a long time ago and nothing ever became of it because I never joined the team. Though it never happened, with recent history, I am kind of curious if I would of had any success back then. Getting in shape, running, the goal was always to be able to say the cliche "I'm in the best shape of my life". Had I joined the team, hard to say what could have happened, but the fact I didn't, I think it's fairly obvious I can use the cliche.

The moments before the race I watched three young adults displaying the exact traits that kept me from joining organized sports back in school. Cockiness, huge egos, jockeying for position right on the start line and at one point I heard the three of them predicting they were going to finish 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Here were my villains for this race. Eighteen years later, still it instantly reminded me of everything I hated about high school. Bang goes the gun. By a half mile in, I was already by two of them. The one punk actually looked like a decent runner and I actually figured the best I could do would be to stay close to him and use the excuse that he was younger in the end. I was certainly motivated, little did I know I had some secret weapons for me along the route. At just over the mile mark, I surged past him, good riddance. In the back of my head, I was worried of him catching me later, but I never saw any of them again. I knew we weren't in the same age group, but that was a HUGE satisfaction knowing that these jock types got crushed by a aging computer nerd.

What were the secret weapons I spoke of? Only further proof that I have the most amazing and creative family. Unknown to me, prior to the race that morning, my mom and aunt were out at the crack of dawn placing homemade signs all along the race route. Messages like "CT you can do it!", "Ace loves CT", and my personal favorite "Run for the bling CT". I doubt I smile ever during a race. The course was a mix of road, trail, deck, and our favorite a suspension bridge that felt like your knees were made of rubber. Without photographic proof, I doubt I did smile on the outside (damn it, I was working hard), but every time I came to a sign it made me smile on the inside. It was a very special treat and I think my favorite part was standing around post race and having people actually asking if CT was the "Bling Girl".

CT and I both ran away from my hometown with 2nd place medals and twelve special signs. It was great having family there to support us and I honestly think they had more excitement for us than energy I spent racing. For the last note, the first place finisher received a trophy, next year we are coming back for the support...and that a trophy!