On Saturday, I participated in the Blood and Guts 5k. I had signed up for it back in July, and was super excited about it, but the last few weeks I injured something in my lower back and it was hard to practice for it. I also woke up with a sore throat. I was very reluctant to go, and really the only reason I went is because I was meeting people there.

I left my house, it was the coldest morning of fall so far. About two miles from my house, I saw a bear loping down the road. That was a bit thrilling, and, I thought to myself, a sure sign that something wasn’t going to be right today. I was bear-ly going to make it. Or the stock market would crash after my terrible display of athleticism. Something like that.

I arrived there, only getting lost one time on the journey, and signed in. I had the thought to just sign in, get my shirt and scurry back to the car, avoiding the eyes of the more enthusiastic participants. It was so cold, and I was wearing barely any clothes, and I couldn’t find my friends, and I was just being a grump.

Eventually I did find them, and while joking about just hiding in the bushes by the finish line, I decided just to do it, and see how far I could go.

I started jogging with them, and actually completed the first mile quite easily. It helped that I was trying to keep up with my friends and not look like the total out of shape person I am. Also there were obstacles which required waiting in a line to do them, therefore allowing me to take a break without being obvious that I desperately wanted one.

The obstacles were fun. Other than just general mud, there were climbing ones, a pumpkin smashing one, and my favorite, a giant slide down the hill into a pool of water. I personally didn’t want to go into a pool of water, since it was all of 40 degrees by that point, although I will admit that the jogging warmed me up considerably. So I jumped down on my belly, and nearing the end I did a sweet maneuver off the side into the grass. I was pretty pleased with myself, although the amount of time it took me to climb out of the grass enabled my friends to take off, and that was the last I saw of them on course. Oh well.

No longer even trying to keep up, I alternated walking and jogging the rest of the time. I managed to finish.

I felt great the rest of the day. I am planning to do it again next year!

And the rest of the day was great too! I threw on my wedding dress again, and did a photo shoot with my horse. The only preview I have is to the left on my instagram previewer thing. But it’s sure to turn out great. The photographer was excellent, and I want to take more!