Jogging My Memory

In school I was never one of the jocks. I was in the class clown group that organized the skits for pep rallies. I wrote parody songs that my friends would sing during morning announcements. I made short films that were shown after school.

In gym class, Mr. Click made us run and run and run. He didn't care that I would throw up in the locker room afterwards. I'm just not built for speed or endurance. I'm good at sports where it's customary to wear a nice belt. Golf...bowling...ping pong...pool. Now we're talkin'. But running is something only my mouth does.

Even though I will usually hit the treadmill on most weekday mornings, it was very cool, yet odd at the same time that I should represent MIX 105.1 at the recent Insurance Office Of America Corporate 5k at the Citrus Bowl. This year it attracted over 7300 people ready to blow off some steam after work. After I finished my responsibilities as an emcee, I blended in with my fellow Central Floridians at the starting line to wait for the "go" signal from the air horn.

In the few moments before the start, I passed the time by acting like an athlete. I did kind of a low kick with my feet while rocking back and forth. Then I bent my knee and grabbed my foot behind me as if to stretch my thigh muscles. I followed that by bending over and touching my toes, and then ripped off a move I see professionals do on TV...the old loosening my neck by rolling my head in a circle thing. After all, running is all neck.

Once the air horn sent us on our way, I quickly realized that warming up like a runner isn't nearly as important as actually running like a runner. Sure there were hundreds of people who chose to walk the 3.1 mile course. But those people weren't the ones passing me like I hadn't heard the horn. About 15 minutes into my run, my iPod died. (another reason why those things will never catch on...) And after a little over a half hour, I was crossing the finish line with my hands raised in the air like they do in the olympics. It wasn't a personal best time or anything, so I'm not sure why I did that little celebration. You can't really bluff that you set a record when there's a 10 foot digital clock silently, but accurately, screaming your time.

But like paper covers rock, and scissors cut paper, pride snuffs out self-consciousness. Finishing the run, sweating up my MIX t-shirt, and feeling that special kind of tired afterwards is intoxicating. So look for me at my next 5k in Winter Park on May 12th. Make sure to say hello as you pass me.