Monday, February 13, 2012

Ok Cupid and My Saturday Night

I saw that a Valentine's Day 5K was taking place last Saturday, so I decided that I would try to break a PR. Although I have never been much into racing, with all of this running, it just makes sense to race here and there. I saw you could race as a couple, so I knew I had the advantage [and very good chance] of winning. Of all the wonderful winter days we have had as of late, Friday afternoon, it actually looked like winter. And it snowed.

Fearful of icy sidewalks, I was sort of worried about how I would race in that weather. And when we woke up on Saturday, it was all of about zero degrees. Zero is not exactly good racing weather. Your muscles are tight and you just can't go that hard.

But enough people showed up for the race and it was about minus five degrees with the windchill and off we went. And I was so sure I could do a 7:07 mile, but something happens to me now that I actually care about racing. When the race starts, and you're surrounded by all of these people and each female you glance at is nothing more than competition, I think to myself, "I hate races. I'll just pretend I am doing my usual morning run." - something I need to work on.

And so, I enjoyed it more or less, not gonna lie. I think we came in third but the results are not up yet. And we weren't chipped. But again, definitely could have done better, but it was super cold and when "Team Win-Cox" [combo of our last names] was done, we made a lot of friends and decided to go out and do some afternoon drinking. For me, it meant a beer with lunch.

And then we went on to Genna's, where my sister met my brother-in-law. And we had our first date. Then we came home so I could feed the dog. And discovered that Whitney Houston had died. Reminiscent of this past summer when I was at the Circus World Museum.

Next, we went to his runner friend's house where we were served old fashioneds because this is Wisconsin and that is what everyone drinks here. Then we went to another party where we didn't really know what/who/when/why the party was going on, but the host made really good falafel [this word is not in my blog's spellcheck, by the way] and everyone looked like a grad student with glasses on. I continously asked "Who are these people?" and "What is this party?" The table was filled with lots of Middle Eastern/tasty food that everyone continuously munched on, pouring anonymously labeled sauces over their food vehicle.

Well, then, two doors down, we decided to stop at one more party. One of our brand-new- having-just-met-him-this-morning-at-the-race-friends had invited us to. It was his house, but guess what? He was not there. And so in we walked, not knowing anyone [can you believe it? I walked all over the house and didn't know one person!]So we introduced ourselves to the birthday boy, helped ourselves to some more noshing and such.

Then, we moved on to Plan B. "Long time, no see!" the muscled bartender said to me. It's more of a summer place, I suppose. And we danced away until twenty to two A.M.

Now let me stop here. Because while we were there, I had this awesome thought in my head. When my mom was my age, she was pregnant with me. And here I am - no children, I can sleep in tomorrow and I have all of this energy and it's almost two in the morning. How great is that? How great is this?

And when I texted my friend the next morning who invited me to have brunch at 11 AM, I passed, using the "I have to spend some more time with my bed" excuse. Because I was tired and my bed needed me. Sorry if you're jealous.

So, back to the end of the night. We walk home. It's below zero. It's over one mile. And it's almost two A.M. And I decide we need to stop in Natt Spil to take a minute to warm up. And in we walk and there it is. It's serendipity. F. Stokes is in the bar, having just finished a show on campus. And he remembered us! And hopefully, that video will make us both famous so we can retire in a few months. My lawyer is calling his [who happened to be there].

4 comments:

  1. What a fantastic day/evening, so eventful-I want to tag along next time! I can't believe you ran a race in that cold of weather either.

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    1. You are welcome to tag alone any time! I try to have adventure-filled weekends as much as possible.

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  2. That reminds me of when I used to say 'my pillow is calling me' when I was ready to leave the bar. These days my pillow calls me all day too. Sounds like fun. You guys will soon come in first in a couples race. I didn't even know they had those.

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    1. Yeah - too bad for you. [joke] Let's see if we can race as a couple next time we are together. I am still waiting for the results, but I think we came in third:(

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