I had other plans for Date #25, but they had to be postponed due to maintenance issues at my chosen venue. So, I went with Plan B. I had been receiving emails for a month or more promoting the Tucson Medical Center Meet Me Downtown 5K Night Run . I was interested in it, but hadn’t registered or planned to do it.

I woke up this particular day with no intention to do this 5K run. My morning began with a really challenging 61 mile ride. It was a beautiful night and I felt like I wanted to get out and enjoy it. I have worked from home for almost 12 years. I love working from home and being in my house, but I need to get out among the living to see other humans. It keeps me from going stir crazy, even if I don’t talk to anyone. So, when considering my potential options, I remembered this 5K event was happening.

I quickly checked to see if there was day-of registration and saw that I could just barely make it. I got to the registration tent just as they were working through the last few people in line. It was a pleasant surprise that some old friends, whom I hadn’t seen for at least 15 years, had the very same idea for the evening. They lined up right behind me to sign up and get their numbers. We were able to catch up for a bit, but the run was scheduled to start 30 minutes after I arrived.

We lined up at the start line and I had the mindset that I was just going to take it easy. I already had my ride and it was hot outside. They set us free and I found that I felt really good and my pace was quicker than I had planned. Everything was great until I reached mile #2 and that’s when I pulled my butt. It was sudden, sharp and I almost fell on my face. Seriously.

This is where my fun run just became damage control to the finish line. I walked most of the last 1.2 miles with a little shuffle jog mixed in here and there. Despite my last third of my my run being pitiful, my overall pace was still a 9:08 minute mile average…I felt excited and wondered what it would have looked like if my butt had stayed in tact.

I finished and hobbled my sore hungry self over to the food trucks and beer garden to drown my discomfort in pizza and beer. The beer garden only had a couple of high top tables, which were all taken. I found a nice grassy spot under a tree and plopped down to eat. A nice lady immediately came over and invited me over to share the table she had with her friend. She looked at me a little bit like I was an alien and said: “We have a table over there if you want to come over and not eat sitting on the ground like that…” How could I refuse an offer like that?! She helped me gather my stuff and we joined her friend at the table. Their names were Rosalind (Roz) and Pete. They work together as corrections officers and travel together.

We talked about other running events we had done. Pete talked about his granddaughter. They were also telling me that they were planning a trip to Portland, Maine this summer. This was a fun coincidence for me because I grew up for half of my childhood in Maine. Portland is 70 miles north of where I used to live. I told them about some fun places around that area and we talked about my old hometown. As the night was coming to an end, and we were saying our goodbyes, Roz looked a little sad to part ways. They were good people and I hope to run into them again at future running events.

It definitely felt strange to just peel myself off my couch and plop myself on the 5k starting line, but I really enjoyed this event. I normally would plan to participate in something like this with my kids, a friend or a group of friends. I loved that I ran into old friends and had a good time visiting with Roz and Pete. I hope they love their trip Portland, Maine and hope I see them sometime so I can ask them about it.

25 Dates Down, 25 to go!! Thank you for reading!