I Run A 5K, Then Sprain An Ankle...Happy Valentine's To Me!

For many people, Valentine's Day is all about love, romance, chocolate, candy, flowers, and all that frou frou stuff. And while I certainly don't mind any of those things (I love a good bit of chocolate now and then!), Nathan and I usually treat Valentine's Day as a bit of an "afterthought" holiday. We usually save our most romantic dates for other occasions, and we are not, by nature, super affectionate romantic people anyway.

So what do we do instead? Well, on Valentine's Day 2015, we still did all the mundane stuff (cleaning the house, laundry, etc.). We also attended one of our girls' volleyball games, which was held that afternoon. We were invited to an adults-only party as well that evening (more on that in a minute), which we almost didn't attend because I'd spent much of the day preparing for a plane trip the following morning (more on that in a later post!).

But on Valentine's Day morning, when the day was still bright and young, I did do something fun...I ran a 5K with my oldest daughter!

This run was the Great Expectations Academy-sponsored Cupid's 5K, which I'd also run the year before. It had been a good experience for me, and I was looking forward to doing it again. Then Lorelai asked to do the run along with me, and I got even more excited. We had done one other run together--a short 1.5-mile "Nut Run" at the Pecan Festival a couple of years back--but it had whetted her appetite for more. Lorelai had asked me several times now when we could do another run, and it looked like now was the time. I was especially impressed that she wanted to do a 5K; I have an ambitious girl! Or at least, a girl who likes to run.

The morning of February 14th was sunny and cool; perfect for running. It was challenging to get Lorelai to pace herself; at the run's outset, she kept complaining to me, "Why is everyone running so slowly??" She kept trying to turn on the gas and outrun everyone, speeding as fast as she can. I had to keep reminding her to take it easy! Plus, Lorelai has a very long stride, so she would often pull way ahead of me in the early going (I have a turtle's pace when it comes to running). However, by the time we'd reached the halfway point, the tide had definitely turned; Lorelai could only run for short bursts at a time, and needed to walk a lot more. However, she was a trooper, and never complained when I suggested we pick up the pace.

We crossed the finish line together at a jog; it felt great to have everyone cheering us on! My one complaint when running with Lorelai (and it was a tiny complaint) is that I wasn't able to really push my limits. Since this was my daughter's first 5K, I wanted to stay close to her and encourage her along the trail. There were many occasions I could have run faster, but slowed down instead to stay with her. In the end, my time was about 4 minutes slower than it had been the previous year. However, I was encouraged by how good I felt afterwards; I felt like I had a lot more gas left in my tank! The next time I go running, I think I will be able to go a lot faster; even if Lorelai runs with me, I think we will both be confident enough in our abilities to make our own way and set our own pace.

It is so neat to have a kid who likes doing this kind of thing! It is a fun, healthy way to bond with my daughter. We had a lot of fun together, and we celebrated with some bananas and brownies afterwards (my kind of breakfast!). And just for fun, we stuck around the registration table to hear the winners announced for the various age groups. And guess who placed in her age group?

Lorelai got second place in the nine-and-under girls' category! She'd asked me before the race if I thought either of us would "win" the race, and I told her that wasn't why I participated. Imagine our surprise, then, when Lorelai got a ribbon to take home! We were both very excited, and I was really proud. First place went to Karen (the girl on the left in the photos), who is the daughter of a friend of mine. It was great to see them pose together and get all excited!

(Of course, if Lorelai races in the Cupid 5K next year, she'll be in the 10- to 13-year-old bracket, and her chances of winning a ribbon will be significantly lower. But I don't think I'll mention that to her for now; besides, I want her to run for the fun of it, and for the health benefit).

Not long after the race wrapped up, we had to go home and get ready for the volleyball game. As you can imagine, Lorelai was drained after the 5K, and spent much of the afternoon staring into space. I am not sure she was much help to her volleyball team that weekend, but at least she'd gotten her exercise in that morning!

Later that evening, our friend Cindy was hosting a lip-sync party for several couples. She'd modeled the party after the lip-sync "battles" that have been popular on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show; basically, two or three people "performing" one of their favorite songs without singing it. Cindy and her husband Jake constructed a whole "stage" in their backyard, complete with lights, a sound system, and some dummy microphones. It promised to be a night of ridiculous melodrama and a lot of people hamming it up as they lip-synced to a variety of music.

Couples were encouraged to perform together (love duets were encouraged, it being Valentine's Day and all), but Nathan and I never had time to decide on a number we could do together. Too bad our musical tastes are so different! Nathan was initially going to perform a John Denver/Placido Domingo duet by himself (he'd switch hats every time the singers switched off!), but he ultimately scrapped the idea. I think he was a little worried people would find his music "too old-fashioned," as many other couples chose songs by newer artists. It was a shame we never got to see his performance, but making a fool of himself in public is never Nathan's favorite thing to do anyway.

I decided to go for a high-degree-of-difficulty song, choosing to lip-sync to the Barenaked Ladies' "One Week" (I spent a few weeks reading and re-reading the lyrics to the second verse so I could get it exactly right).

I ended up being terrified, but I did all right in the end! People cheered, I had my moment in the sun, everything was awesome. Even though we weren't there long, Nathan and I had a great time at this party; we got to nibble treats, visit with friends, and watch a lot of funny, silly performances. All was well...at least until about half an hour later...

Nathan and I agreed to leave the party early, since it had already been a long day and I still had some packing to do for a trip I would be leaving on the following day. However, after arriving home, I realized that I had something I needed to deliver to a friend who was at the party. So back I went, alone, driving our stick-shift Toyota Echo (this information will become important in a minute). Once I'd made the delivery, I stuck around a bit longer, talking to friends and enjoying a little bit more of the party (as is my way sometimes; I can tolerate parties for longer than Nathan so it made sense for me to go back).

At one point, my friend and I got to talking about church dances from our teenage years, and about some of the dances that people learned there. One of the songs we fondly(?) remembered was Rednex's "Cotton Eye Joe"...truly, a stake dance mainstay from my youth. At that point, I must have gotten a little cocky, and I decided to re-create the Cotton-Eye Joe dance right there in Cindy's backyard. And then, this happened.

Short explanation: I am a terrible dancer. Slightly longer explanation: I didn't properly examine the terrain before attempting my sweet moves. At one point, I was balanced on my left foot, and that foot was straddling a paving stone and the lawn. And there was a slight depression in the lawn. As soon as my ankle rotated a little bit, my whole balance gave way. My ankle bent wildly to the left, and down I went.

Even though it hurt, I just assumed it was a bad tumble at first. However, after a few minutes, I realized I couldn't put any weight on the leg, and the ankle had swelled to twice its original size. Luckily, an emergency-room doctor-in-training was at the party. He examined me for a minute or two, and officially declared my ankle sprained. By that point, I needed help getting up and moving through the house. My friend Jenny let me lean on her for support as I left the party and headed to my car. And since I brought our manual-transmission car, I wasn't even able to drive (curse you, clutch!). As a result, Jenny became my "designated driver" that night as well. To an uninformed observer, it may have looked like I was being led out of the party drunk! Of course, since we were all Mormons, that possibility was unlikely, but the thought still amused me.

Once home, I immediately elevated the leg and put ice on it. However, the swelling continued through the night. It was fun to compare my ankles side by side. Bet you can't tell which one was sprained!

Anyway, that was my Valentine's Day. It had an unfortunate ending, but at least I was able to run a fun 5K with my daughter before falling victim to my own clumsiness. In truth, my fall was relatively unknown at the time; most people at the party didn't see it happen, and only heard about it later. But although I was deeply embarrassed that night, I realized it would be a funny story to tell later. So here I am, setting the record straight!