The Eye of the Heffalump: It Was My Bright Idea

The corndog that stole my heart.

Waaaay back in something like July, I was struck by the not so brilliant idea of signing up for a 5K with my work buddy Jennifer.

Not so brilliant due to the fact that I haven't run more than two minutes straight in about a year and a half. But Jennifer was game, and so after delaying the original date in September to a run in the middle of October, we were on.

Committing to run in October here in the Intermountain West is like willfully agreeing to run through sleet, or at least a snow flurry. But on the day of the run we got lucky: it was a balmy 40 degrees in Idaho Falls. There was a stiff breeze that took the temp down another 5 degrees when it really blew. We awaited the start of the race under a sky thick with gray and promising snow.

As my legs shook with ~~the onset of hypothermia~~ anticipation, I tried to remember what motivated me to attempt this inanity. I had tried to "trick" myself into exercising by implementing an end date that would require me to hoof it with some zeal. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out that way. I'm not saying I didn't exercise at all. I did. Some. My lack of focus didn't exactly prepare me to run this 5K.

Jennifer was a great sport for the whole endeavor. Not only did she agree to participate in this goal setting effort gone wrong, she came over the night before and made dinner for me and Tim. She basically rocks.

Jennifer poses with her Kung Pao Chicken

Jennifer and I arrived in Idaho Falls before 8AM. The race was at 9AM, so she drove me around and gave me a little mini-tour of I-Falls, which is all the bigger a tour gets in I-Falls. We hit the Starbucks (something I would regret later, around the 3rd mile), and then started walking through the park where the run would be held. We realized early on that the 5K was associated with something called Harvest Fest.

I was happy to celebrate the end of Almost-Getting-Killed-By-A-Potato-Truck-Coming-Down-My-Narrow-Dirt-Road season, so I was all about the Harvest Fest. Let me tell you as well that I found a new inspiration for finishing the 5K: there was a Pronto Pup truck sitting in the Fest area, ready to swing open its doors for business once the run was over. There is nothing like the promise of a fresh corndog to get you over the finish line.

Okay, so we actually did run. Not the whole time or anything, but off and on during the course. And get this, it was really pretty. I had no idea that I-Falls had any true quaintness about it, but it turns out that it does.

It was kind of this really unexpected experience - no matter how much poor planning went into it. The weather did warm up and it never actually snowed. Instead, we got some air, hung out with some locals, and had probably the best corndog ever from friendly vendors that were willing to take our photo.

Look at the crazed look in my eye. Me loves me some Pronto Pups!

Jennifer has now planted this seed of an idea in my head that I can run a 10K by next May if I really try, and we should drive to Boulder, Colorado to do this thing.

I am not completely opposed to it, but she is pretty much going to have to guarantee a fresh corn dog at the finish line.