Sunday, May 31, 2009

Zoom Zoom Zooma!


Two weeks ago Emma and I were feeling mighty mighty after tri-sista Jill's Columbia Triathlon. We needed a sistahood moment, an event, a race, anything will do really. Emma selected Zooma Annapolis - a mere 10K event just 2 weeks away. Plus, all finishers got a SILVER NECKLACE, a box lunch and a cupcake. That's it. All I needed to hear. Training is all about the treats, so this sounded like an EXCELLENT adventcha, with a few minor exceptions. Jill could barely walk with her new IT band trauma, I wasn't running at all due to hamstring problems, and Emma was the only sista hood not complaining about aches and pains. Let's do a 10K run in 2 weeks. Why not!

Every night for 2 weeks, I put myself in painful poses to try to stretch out my hamstrings. By day 3 I was up to 3 miles....and at the end of the first week - Emma and I ran a whopping 5 miles at the Annapolis Naval Academy. Things were looking swell. Except for the fact that my speed was slower than molasses. I could practically walk faster than I ran. Jill struggled with running downhill - where the screams from Mister IT Band could be heard throughout her neighborhood. Emma was simply a running machine.

Game day. Sunday Morning. The day of the sista-hood. But wait - Emma won't be joining us? Her car malfunctioned with the swine flu, and then passed the disease to her b'friend's Mikes car...and suddenly they were out in western Maryland with a bunch of piggly-wigglies and no hot rod Lincolns. This was not a good start. We were counting on Emma to run all out and give the sista hood a great finish time. Now, we would have to try to manage in our AARP crippled state, and get to the finish line all by ourselves. It would not be the same without Emma. We had to make her proud.

We pre-arranged a rendezvous - that involved meeting in a parking lot in Glen Burnie at 5:20am. Guess who insisted that we be the VERY FIRST to arrive at the Naval Academy for the start of the 10K Zooma race? If you guessed Jill, that would be correct. With Jill driving at speeds close to 90mph, we traveled into the future, and arrived in Annapolis in less than 10 minutes. It was hard to get excited about doing this run. We were both injured. No Emma. The temperatures were in the 50's, and it was pouring rain. Cold cold rain. This silver necklace at the finish line better be pretty special!

We waited in long lines at the start -- for a restroom. The lines weren't moving - and we were shivering in the cold temperatures and pouring rains. Someone suggested that we try the Men's bathroom - as there were no lines. We sprinted to the men's bathroom on the Naval Academy. We were finally sheltered from the rain, and there was a short line of ladies waiting for the two stalls to become available. There was also a steady stream of men who were not shy about using the additional urinals in our presence. We waited in line, with our backs to the urinals. Soon this will be over, and we'll have our dang necklace.

By 7AM, the race started. After the first mile, the rains had stopped, and Jill kindly settled into my 'crawling on all fours' pace. It was a rigorous course. Much of it uphill. We ran the entire 10K distance, no hamstring popping, no IT band outta control. We were even passing other runners on occasion. And not just the 90 year olds! Emma would have been proud of us. Rock on sista-hoods!

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