Relay for Life

Wow, what a great night last night.

Aly asked me to be on her team (with her friend) several weeks ago. I wasn't sure if I'd have to work or if I could stay all night, but I said I'd help.

The week of the race, I found out I'd have an early shift at work starting at 7am, so I'd definitely have to call it an early night…but then…

I got there about an hour late, so the race was already on the way. The race had a Mardi Gras theme and the booths along the track were all decked out in gold, green and purple. I had to do some searching to find the booth, but after about 10 minutes, I found both of them and dropped off dinner for Aly, and then began to walk. The first hour was a little warm, but once the sun went down, it was very nice conditions - a slight breeze and clear night. The track was quite packed, so I ended up walking in the outer lanes for the first half of the evening (but avoiding the runners in the very left lane, tricky at times).

There was a cute contest going on – the Miss Relay – in which young men dressed as girls and then walked the track (or just stood in the track) and begged for money. The one with the most money would win the contest. I think the cutest one had a pink dress (with bloomers!), but what made it was the pigtails, the chest hair, and the beard. He even would say “donations” in a high pitched voice. He got a few dollars from us, but unfortunately, he didn’t win the contest, although I think I taught the winner (the name sounded very familiar, but I was too far away to see who it was).

So I continued walking, and walking, mixing in some running at points. Besides the general “tiredness” ache, my legs felt great. I ended up doing 20 miles and stopped around 2 in the morning so I could get a few hours of sleep. If I hadn’t had to work the next day, I think I could have kept going. I came fairly close to doing a marathon distance and may try it again soon just for giggles.

Oh, next day, my legs still feel great (a little achy, but not much) but I’ll wait until tomorrow to make sure. I’ve been doing more and more running lately (going from a 5 minutes of walking and 2 running, to 5 minutes running to 2 walking on hard days) and my knees feel fine; only a little sore on stairs, but not a problem otherwise. In fact, I notice that they ache after a few days of not exercising. So, again, oh what a night!