Ramblings

I'm feeling very inclined to write, and this seems like a good enough outlet.



Walking water whispers



As I crouch next to the embankment,
I hear it - walking water whispers.



I look around for the voice,
I am alone.



I hear the rushing sound of the water,
Mother Nature tells me her secrets.



Nowhere to go, I slip off my clothes,
As I slip into the cool water I am energized.


I listen closer and it becomes clearer,
I smile.

Walking water whispers

Tega Cay Military Memorial 5K - Tega Cay, SC

Celebrating my 34th birthday would not be complete without a 5K race. Tega Cay is a fancy shmancy golf course community about 15 minutes south of Charlotte, NC, where we spent the weekend for my birthday. I recall another race on a golf course (see LG 5K) and thought, this should be about the same. What I neglected to recall was that most of South and North Carolina is considered mountainous or, at the very least, foothillsy.

My Aunt Nancy and my fabulous husband, Billy, both agreed to join in this event with me, but they decided to walk in the one mile family walk instead. There were maybe 50 people running and it started out nice. The weather was perfect! Sunny and cool enough that there was little to no humidity.

The organizers of the race, realizing that May 30th is the actual Memorial Day, allowed everyone to come dressed in their most patriotic running attire. I was a little disappointed that my Aunt Nancy and I were the only ones dressed in red, white and blue! Here is the picture of us with our patriotic garb on.

They had a (small) color guard to present the colors during the playing of the National Anthem. I don't care how small or large a group is, this tradition never fails to bring tears and a sense of pride for our great nation.

The start of the race was nice and smooth, but about 500m into the course, we hit a decline that dropped about 25 feet over about 20 yards. Holy crap! It was almost straight up and down. Out loud, to no one in particular, I said, "You have got to be kidding me!" The guy that was running next to me, looked at me and said, "Yeah, and we get to run back up this same hill!" Oh geez! I was thinking that I was pretty glad that I ran stadiums twice last week and my legs aren't totally going to hate me for running these crazy hills one more time!

It was a great course, very quiet and serene with some gorgeous views on the back nine (including all those hills!) As I crossed the finish line at 35:23, I thought that wasn't too bad for such a hilly course.

We hung around for the awards ceremony so Aunt Nancy and Billy could get their medals for finishing the walk, and I found out that I got 3rd place in my age category! Even better, I was the 4th female overall!!! I couldn't believe it!

And to make things even better; Aunt Nancy and I won for the patriotic costume contest. The hats that we were wearing we made. Well, OK, it's just a store bought visor with glittery foam stars on them, but still. It was a great race, a great day, and an awesome weekend!