#27 Sizzle your socks off - OKC

Race #28 was called "Sizzle your Socks" and was held on June 21st in beautiful Stars and Stripes Park in Oklahoma City.  The race benefited the Hospice program in Oklahoma.  Given the theme of the race...we wore crazy socks selected by my nieces.  They decided that the socks weren't crazy enough by themselves...we had to wear one from each pair to truly qualify as "crazy".  

Note I am note wearing the socks as knee highs.  It's Oklahoma and it's 83 degrees at 8AM.

My sister joined me in this effort.  My sister is a serious runner.  She runs and bikes and swims.  She trains for half-marathons.  She competes in triathlons (which are combination events of biking, running, shooting, or running, skipping and debating, or screaming, ranting and flailing. Those are my favorite.)  

But I digress.  It's more important to note that she is a serious runner because: she got GEAR.  I mean I have gear. Sort of.  I have a nifty phone holder thingy, but she got serious gear.  A Garmin-watch-counter thing.  It keeps track of your time, your pace, your heart rate, and the current exchange ratio from pounds to dollars as well as the current times in New York and Tokyo. 

Not really, but it would be cool if it did.

At the beginning of the race, she says to me "How about we go for your best PR?!"  Post Race?  Pre-Race?  Proper Roads?

Personal Record.  My best time.  To do that I have to run. Consistently.  That's what the Garmin is for.  Challenge accepted.

So we run for a minute. Recover for a minute. (I have my doubts about anything I do involving active "recovery").  And she tells me, "Breathe.  In through your nose, out through your mouth."  She sounds like my kids.  Telling me that I'm breathing wrong.  But I do it.  She keeps asking me, "All right?  You okay?"  In fairness, I have a tendency to pass out.  Due to heat.  Or not eating.  Or low blood sugar.  Or annoying questions.  

Recovery.

We managed to stay on pace and kept up with the beeping Garmin. and managed to run to the finish line.  And not passed out.  Or require any form of medical attention.  So that's a win.  For both of us.

And I logged my Personal Record 46:23.

Go Team!