This past May I decided I wanted to start running
again. I’ve posted before about my past
marathons and how much I do love running.
It’s been way too long since I have done it. I decided that I would start off slowly and
hoped to work my way up to longer distances.
For me, it is all about having a goal.
So I looked up a bunch of cool races online and hoped to sign up for a number
of them so that I would have my goals to keep me running at 5am in the morning.
I did it for about 2 1/2 weeks – the getting up at 5am to
run. But then I couldn’t keep it
up. There are many reasons I think it
didn’t work then – one might have been that I am so damn tired all time… but I
don’t think that was the main reason.
Thinking about it now, I realize there were other reasons. But that is for a different post.
But during my initial burst of enthusiasm and zest for
running, I did manage to sign up for one race.
I found a race on the weekend before our birthdays. And it was the perfect race. Mainly because it wasn’t exactly a race at
all…
My friend, Auntie C, and I love to travel – be it road trips
from Chicago to Milwaukee & Madison, WI or adventuring to China or Australia – it doesn’t
matter. We’ve spent New Year’s Eve on
the beach in Rio, in the middle of the Western Saharan desert and in a hotel
bar in Costa Rica. We’ve tasted Port in
Porto, Portugal and bought Delft pottery in Delft, Amsterdam. She is a fellow adventurer in action and in
spirit. We’ve had fun. We have always said we’d love to be on that
TV show, The Amazing Race.
So when I was looking for cool races (they have so many of
them these days – zombie races, mud races, color runs…) and I stumbled across
URBAN DARE. I was psyched! It was a mini Amazing Race, right here in
Washington DC on the weekend of our birthdays – I signed us up! It was my birthday present to her.
Neither one of us had trained or were running but we were
going to do it anyway. We’d just go as
fast as we could. The thing about the “Race” is that it is part race, part
“scavenger hunt” – you get a list of clues that you must solve or complete
during the race. There is no actual course.
You can use the metro or the bus
during the race. You must take a picture
at each clue if it requires it. At some
clues, you must complete a dare. It was going
to be fun.
But we had to be prepared.
Jocelyn was out of town so I had to ask my “village” to help with the kids
– and the village came through. My
bestest buddies Uncles B & B showed up early and stayed late to watch the kids
and the kids had a blast. We also wanted
a “command central” to help us with the clues (this is allowed in the race) and
my buddy Greg spent about 2 hours on the phone and the Internet helping us
solve all the clues and map out our route – he is super awesome.
It was a gorgeous day out.
We walked fast and ran a bit. We
took the metro twice. We came in 20th out of about 90 teams. Our time was 2:45:38.
WE HAD A BLAST!
During the race, we had three dares: (1) ask two people to
hold the rope while we jumped it in a park (I paid two homeless people to
hold our rope…); (2) do a three legged race around a statue in a park; and (3)
figure out a “decoding” puzzle. We did
them all with no problem. We also figured
out each clue and took all the required pictures. I did visit a few new sites in Washington DC
and have now added them to my “kaleidoscope” lens for the future when I am in
need of places to go with Jonah & Vera.
Jonah & Vera cheered for us when we got home. Although, Jonah was irritated that he did not
get to "race" with us. I did remind him
that he had a great day with Uncles B & B, went to the playground and ate
lots of treats!
There was at least one family doing the race and we actually
kept bumping into them. They were a
family of four - mom, dad, and two young boys.
We talked to them a bit. I
totally want to do the race with my kids when they get older – I think it would
be super fun!
The winners of the race clearly ran the entire time (you can
check out their times at the link HERE ). I
have the running bug again. I went and
had new orthotics made for my running shoes.
I am going to try to start running soon.
I am trying to go to sleep earlier and eat healthier. I have been walking a lot. I am going to try to start in January to run
in a disciplined way.
My dare to myself (and to Auntie C) is this:
Next year, we RUN Urban Dare - the whole time!
Baby steps – but I am confident we can get there!
Happy Birthday Auntie C! I had a great time "racing" with you!
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