Get your Rear in Gear!

Hello Beautiful People!

Do you know what today was? It was the first 5K of 2015 for me. HOLLA!  I joined Ms. Amy’s team for the Get your Rear in Gear Colon Cancer 5K. I’m so glad I did. I love love LOVE 5Ks for a great cause. I enjoy 5Ks with thousands of people walking for a cause so much more than a few hundred running. It’s just so much fun and so emotional.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do today though. It’s my usual distance day. Today’s distance was to be 13 miles. I decided to move my distance to Monday because I had most of the day clear. Then I got a new appointment. I can still do it, but I considered trying for the 5K, working with a client, and then go to the park for 10.

I have consumed a lot of coffee these past couple of weeks, way more than I usually do. I am tired. So today remains just a 5K day. And I’m okay with that. We walked the first 3 miles and then I tore up the road with my impressive sprint speed for the last .1 miles. The problem with that is that I was skirting around lots of walkers and the final stretch was a zig zag. I don’t know what I did, but my already sore knee is ANGRY with me. So it is now elevated and being iced. Tomorrow is a rest day. I will try to see what I can get in on Monday and be happy with whatever time will allow. Right now I should be able to the full mileage in, but my days change on a moment’s notice.

So today’s team was put together by Ms. Amy’s boyfriend’s sister-in-law. It is in memory of her Mother who passed away from Colon Cancer. I had told Ms. Amy back in the fall that I would join them and then when I found out the cause I was all in. Mom-Mom is a Colon Cancer survivor and I would be honored to participate in her honor.

Since it was going to be an early morning I tried really hard to go to bed early yesterday. I finished a coffee too late in the afternoon so I had a hard time falling asleep. Then I woke up in the middle of the night with pain in my right arm. My triceps were hurting. I’m not sure what happened, but suspect I pulled a muscle lifting a medicine ball one handed yesterday while my other hand was holding something. That was a little weird. I had a hard time staying asleep. I kept waking up. I assume it was anxiety over the fear of oversleeping.

Luckily for me that after my alarm went off I had very little to do. I had prepped everything last night. So I got my shower, got dressed, and got ready to go. I needed a coffee and started it while I took some stuff to my car. Frost! It was covered in thick frost. Grr. I had just enough time to get to
Ms. Amy’s…

Oh, and on that frost front, I had struggled with what to wear. Today’s forecast: sunny and 60….however, yesterday was cold and it was 27 degrees when I was leaving this morning. It would not get above 40 for the race. Which normally I would be ALL over…that’s perfect, but if I was walking with a group then I needed to layer up. So I had leggings and a t-shirt under sweatpants and a running jacket.

When I got to Ms. Amy’s we drove over to the team headquarters. Ms. Catherine, the team leader, went and picked up everyone’s gear a couple of days ago. She also had little gift bags with water, team hats, and candy for everyone. Oddly, I was registered for the team, but when she picked up the stuff they didn’t give her my stuff so we needed to head over to the race so I could get my stuff.

Happily I happened to see some signs of Spring on our way.

When we arrived there were masses of people walking all over. I love that. LOVE IT!  There were teams everywhere. People were coming together to honor survivors and in memoriam of loved ones. It brings a tear to my eye whenever I see the special race bibs with names.

There was still a little mix up, but I got my shirt and bib. I couldn’t find any “In Honor of” bibs, so I took a “In memory of” and crossed out memory. I put Mom-Mom’s name on it and Ms. Amy put it on my back. Then it was time to find our group for a team photo. That was pretty funny. The gentleman who was asked to take the picture had to keep backing up and backing up. Team Picked Eggs was in the house! Oh I’ll get to the name in a little bit.

The race started and it was just a sea of people. If you are a runner then you start up front, otherwise expect to finish in an hour. There are so many people you can’t move that fast. I’m glad I was layered up. I was fine, but most everyone else was a bit chilly.

I enjoyed the nice walk through Charlotte. I liked getting to know everyone and getting some fresh air. I had asked about the name Pickled Eggs and found out that it was Ms. Catherine’s mom’s favorite. I love that. Well, not so much the pickled egg part, but that’s a cool name.

You already know how it ended so I’ll spare a repeat. But, we did go straight to the refreshment table for water, fruit, and carbs. I ate half a banana and a cookie then I took a bag of skinny popcorn for later.

I think my favorite part of the day was that the DJ was playing music for people to dance to and it was booty music. The first song I heard was The Wobble…”back it up” te he. I was moving my booty and backing it up with them. I must remind you that I do have a booty playlist on my ipod. Cause I’m cool like that.

We went back to team headquarters and had some great food: Salad, egg casserole, pasta, garlic bread…all before 10am. It was lovely. Sadly I couldn’t stay long because I had a client session in a little bit. But, I did get a chance to try some Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Latte that you can get at the grocery store. I LIKED it!  I will get more.

It was a wonderful morning and I’m so glad I was a part of it. It always makes me feel good to help raise money for a good cause. Speaking of good causes, don’t forget to spread the word about my Run for Autism!  The Cleveland marathon is 10 weeks from tomorrow. I still need to raise $525 to meet my goal. Any amount you can donate will be much appreciated.

Run for Autism Fundraising page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/jennifer-henderson-6/2015ClevelandMarathon

Have a Blessed Evening

****Please note****

If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.

jhendersonfit@gmail.com 

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Run for Autism Fundraising page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/jennifer-henderson-6/2015ClevelandMarathon