Pass the oxygen, please

Since I went on my diet and exercise kick, I’ve been speedwalking on our treadmill several times a week. Usually I try to get in at least three miles but usually four each time I get on the treadmill. For a while I was running since I had run a lot in college, but when you get old your knees start to scream for mercy every time you run more than 10 steps, so I decided maybe it was time to hang it up and stick with walking.

Our city has several marathons every year, and also some of the best 10K walk/runs in the country. This year I decided that I wanted to sign up for the biggest 10K event of the year as a walker – hey, I might not be running like some of my guy friends are, but I figure that considering how far I’ve come this year it was going to be a great goal for myself. I also rallied four of my friends from work to form a team and we convinced my company to sponsor us as a team. Run Forrest, run! Or walk, as our case may be.

The walk is just under two weeks away. I am nowhere near ready for this walk. I calculated the mileage for 10 kilometers to be 6.7 miles…that’s a lot. A lot. SIX POINT SEVEN a lot.

I was talking to my good friend SG the other day – he and his wife are going to be working in one of the “relief stations” on the race route and he was laughing about how on the years he ran the 10K, there were always people collapsing on the side of the street with IV’s and oxygen masks – and how totally lame that is.

Do me a favor? Just remind me – when I do collapse, I need to make sure it’s either before or after the station he’s working in. That way I can use my oxygen mask in peace.