Run to Cure HD

This morning I was part of a running event that raised forty-six thousand dollars for the Huntington's Disease Society of America.

Mile 1: 8:31
Mile 2: 9:14
Mile 3: 9:23
5K elapsed time: 28:12

I crossed the chip mat more than two minutes behind my 5K personal best time from this spring, but that didn't bother me much. I've struggled with re-establishing my running routine in the weeks after Hurricane Ike came ashore. So having this race -- my first since Labor Day -- was a welcome "icebreaker" on the comeback trail. We've got refreshingly cool morning temps now in Fort Bend County and it felt wonderful to just pin on a number and run hard again.

What did bother me was losing in the silent auction that followed the race. I was engaged in a fierce four-way battle for a gift certificate from Maggie Moo's. I scribbled in bid after bid, but at the last minute, I was topped by one dollar. One measly dollar. Failing to come through with a win when a vital commodity like ice cream was at stake was a feeling even more disheartening than looking at the 5K results and seeing my name at the very bottom of my age group.

:: Sigh ::