"It's vitally important that women be asked about their lifetime history of exercise.” Leslie Bernstein

Why should women be asked about their history of exercise.. well the next quote rather sums that up!... “In our study, the women who were not previously exercising but then did what was out of the ordinary for them, acute bursts of exercise, were at a slightly elevated risk of having sudden cardiac death while they exercised.” Christine Albert quotes I can hear it now at my funeral. What happened... cancer? no.. she ran a 5K! I did it! Not alone mind you.. Kiah was so much help. We did forget the camera..so no pictures! But I did it! I can't walk, and my body is clearly rejecting the mind's desire to exercise! I can't even begin to tell you the things that have broken down since Saturday. But.. with all the whining I am doing.. I can tell you that I am proud of myself. I am thankful to Kiah for slowing down and then motivating me to hurry up! What a guy! So I finished number 706.. not too bad out of 707! just kidding! There were over a thousand runners! So I think I started out strong, ran almost a mile, then the strategy kicked in. Which was.. run through the shade (because it is cold) and walk through the sun. It worked for a while. Have you ever seen that Asian show "Ninja Warriors"? The one where there is this fierce competition of ridiculous obstacles in order to hail the title of Ninja Warrior! Well as we finished the first mile and a half... I could hear the narrator saying.. "at this point the lactic acid is doubling in her legs and beginning to fill her lungs.. at any point now she will be drowning in her own motionless mountain of pain!" Every time I heard the word lactic acid in my head.. I knew I had to run... and Kiah motivated me to keep going. Honestly.. if it had been anyone else.. I would have ran into a bar and had a martini! (He did buy me one when I finished)! You know runners world suggests having a energy drink or electrolyte replacement drink after running! Doesn't specify exactly what not to drink... so I had a raspberry-lemonade martini and then lots of water! LOTS OF WATER! Oh yeah after the first mile and a half I had to go potty so bad.. but when we got to the area where the portapotties were.. the beginners were passing them (heading toward the finish) and I just knew that I couldn't be the biggest loser and go potty right then! So I pushed on. Motivation.. finish without peeing in my shorts! As we rounded the corner near Colorado College, the man with his giant megaphone was yellow.. "it's all down hill from here.. It's a piece of cake!" Well hello genius.. you are standing on the side of the road, yelling into a megaphone with your giant maroon Dodge Ram truck (with a Hemi)! Kiah and I could smell someone grilling steak... the hunger kicked in. More motivation! There was a girl wearing black in front of us most of the run and I just told Kiah.. I just wanted to finish ahead of her. So as we neared the last half mile.. Kiah said "If you want to beat her.. we gotta go." so we did! After running my lungs felt like someone emptied the contents of a spittoon into them. I could feel the phlegm accumulating in large quantities... along with that lactic acid (whatever that is)! Regardless I survived and finished and am forever grateful to Kiah. Another reason to love that man more than ever! Yes, I am still running.. some days only mentally..but I am still running. I am determined to run more in the 5K in the Garden of the Gods in May than I did this one! I will also remember to bring a camera..so I have proof!