finally, a race

i signed up for my first race of the season today. next saturday, i will be running in a local 5 mile "swamp stomp". it's run over trails, hills, and i assume... swamps. the organizers said not to bring your good shoes. take notice that i said i was running, and not racing. with my current level of fitness, racing is definitely out of the question. so, while i will be in a race, i will not actually be racing. darrin is doing this race and talked me into it. the cool thing is that my 10-year old twin boys will be joining me. although they've run with me and on their own many times, this will be their first "official" race. my first thought was that i would have to stay back and run at their pace just so i would know that they were ok. then it occurred to me that their pace is probably going to be significanty faster than mine... they have already established through our runs and the work they have done with a local youth running club, that they can toast me at the 5k distance, and although they have never done this long of a distance, i have little doubt that they will be waiting for me at the finish line as opposed to the other way around. so - that has become my goal. don't get beat by my 10 year olds. is that pathetic or what? i mean, for their age, they are very good runners, but they are 10! i should still be able to beat a 10 year old shouldn't i? oh well, at least this is a win-win situation. if i win, then i will temporarily hold onto my place as king. (oh, and i will tease them!) and if they win - well, they are my kids. and i do want them to excel. and after i am mercilessly mocked by my kids, my wife, friends, parents, whoever actually reads this, and probably even the dog, i will feel good about it. after all, i'm rooting for them already.
this past weekend didn't exactly go as planned. i thought i was going to a 12 mile run with darrin, but he ended up running with his group. i went out and did about 9 miles, though. i should mention that those were 9 s...l...o...w miles. it took me about 1:25 to cover the 9. about a 10min pace. i felt pretty good though, and the leg soreness has pretty much subsided this morning. i didn't get to bike on sunday as i had hoped, because i got busy doing father/husband/friend/volunteer/slave duties. one thing seemed to lead to another, and i just didn't get time. it was soooo nice, too. oh well. there will be other opportunities, i suppose. tonite i'll do a little 3-5 mile run to get the rest of the soreness out of my legs from saturday. i'll be sure to load the kids up on greasy burgers and ice cream this week...