I torture my body with over-exertion

A local charity held a fun run today. The Consulate was one of the sponsoring organizations, so several officers participated in the race. the turnout was very good: over 200 people signed up, both from the local and the international communities. The Consulate staff performed very well, too: one of us won first place for the men’s 10K (NOT ME), and one of our marines won the woman’s 10K (again, not me).

Originally, I was going to sign up run the 5K, because that’s the distance that I usually put in on the treadmill. However, one of my (very much younger) fellow officers shamed me into signing up for the 10K.

Last Sunday I ran 10K on the treadmill, just to be sure that I could run that far without throwing up or fainting. Neither of those two things happened, so I felt that I could probably make it through the race.

Before the race: sure, we can smile now. The pain hasn't started yet.

Before: sure, we can smile now. The pain hasn’t started yet.

The race was held in a park that spans the river. Lots of water and green grass and trees, it reminded me of running in the nature preserve and the MSU campus back home. The path was paved, it was good for running.

The pain of the run was typical for a run, but I felt the added pressure of knowing that if I keeled over, it would be in public, and in full view of the entire city of Shenyang (who, I’m sure, were all following my performance with great interest, because, of course, I am the most important person in the world). The threat of public humiliation is an effective, if cruel, motivator. So I kept running, and made it through to the end, with only two “oh crap, I’m going to puke!” moments (false alarms).

As I crossed the finish line, I received a medal. Wow, I thought, did I win? Then I noticed that everyone got a medal, so I guess the significance of the medal is that you didn’t fall down dead somewhere along the trail.

Was the medal worth the pain, dehydration, and sunstroke? Ask me tomorrow!

Was the medal worth the pain, dehydration, and sunstroke? Ask me tomorrow! (The medal reads: “excellent.” I assume that when they designed the medals, they were not thinking that they would have to give one to me)

Not all of us were feeling so good after the race.

Not all of us were feeling so good after the race.

As a reward to myself for not letting my feet kill me, today I get to eat anything that I want.

One Comment

  1. Mike Dittenber

    I know this feeling well! Had a few of those moments when I did the CRIM (10 miles) last month and I’m sure I will again in February when I attempt a half marathon!

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