A few life lessons from the road, and specifically from the Hot Chocolate 15K in Tampa:
There is nothing more terrifying than a clown… except possibly a clown with a megaphone. Or maybe two clowns with a smartphone.
A cardboard “M” will not last in super humid conditions, and probably wouldn’t last even in normal conditions. This “M” melts on the course, not in your hand. So as the race went on I went from being a Red M&M to a copyright infringement free Red N&N.
Like a lot of events I’ve been to recently, it’s deathly quiet out there. A few sparse spectators but few vocal cheers and even less seeming camaraderie amongst the runners. I cheered folks when I could but I have to admit, even though it was only a 9 mile+ run, I struggled and huffed and puffed and wasn’t my usual talkative, encouraging self. Whether that’s my mood in general these days or a reflection of the times and events, I’m not sure. I could be projecting or simply seeing confirmation biases and therefore only witnessing what I WANT to see. But truth be told, I WANT to see encouragement, to hear the cheers of strangers and friends alike, to in short experience the highs of communal success in a highly personal and individual endeavor.
Mom was there to cheer me on — for that I’m always appreciative and thankful. I told her when I snapped a selfie in the finisher chute that I had lost half my “M” to humidity but that it was okay — I was doing a half-ass job running anyway.
And then there were the random photo opportunities:
I got home and checked the results. Huh. I won my age group. That’s kinda cool.
