As soon as I locked the door at work, the sky opened up. I stood on the porch for a few minutes trying to decide if I wanted to ride my scooter in that downpour. In the end, I had to go or I would be late for training, and training is important to me.

There were probably thirty or forty of us, in the pouring rain. I only completed two laps, which was two miles, in the thirty minutes they gave us. It was actually rather encouraging. I was expecting to be overwhelmed and self-conscious (and I was), but after finally giving up on keeping up with the running pack, I found my own pace and stopped being so awkward. And, as people lapped me (gah!), they offered words of encouragement to me, as did the coaches who ran the loop in reverse.

Some people only completed one lap, so at least I did more than them, right? Not that it’s a competition. After the thirty minutes, we went to the track, formed teams, and did relay races, complete with a baton exchange and all. Only, my team fell apart, so instead of running a third of the track at a time, I ended up doing the entire lap. Exhausting, I can assure you.

It rained the entire first lap. And during the relay. So I didn’t get to find out of my new socks, sports bra, and shirt wick or not; I was soaked. Also, my brand new shoes got soaked and muddy. And squishy.

Please consider donating to my torture the fat lady Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser. It’s a great cause.

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