I need to be more selective when choosing my friends

If you read my post yesterday, you know Jason and I signed up for another race - the Army Ten Miler - which will be held around the Pentagon.

My friend, Melissa, is obsessed with all things Pentagon/FBI/CIA/Ninja related. Last year she and her hubby went to Virginia and Washington, DC to visit her sister-in-law who lives right at the states' borders. Part of their touristing (yes, that's a word. Because I just said it. So there) was touring the Pentagon. Of course, Melissa saw the signs saying "no photos allowed," but she didn't actually believe they meant she couldn't take any photos. To be sure the signs were only for the people who looked shifty and like they might be terrorists.  Eventually she did get yelled at by a security guard in a golf cart type of vehicle.

Knowing that she'd get a kick out of the race I'll be doing in October, here is the email conversation that took place between us:

From: Missy
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 11:07 AM
To: Melissa
Subject: YAY!!

I’ll tell you the details when we head to lunch, but guess who’s going to D.C. in October… This chick! We’re going for a race – The Army Ten Miler (which opened at midnight last night/this morning and SOLD OUT BEFORE 11:00AM!!!).

Whoot, whoot!

[Note: I apologize for the cheesy ass "whoot, whoot." I was excited that Jason and I actually got registered for this damn race.]

From: Melissa
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:51 PM
To: Missy
Subject: RE: YAY!!

I know we’ve already talked about this, but I am SOOOOO freaking excited for you guys!!! I demand LOTS and LOTS of pictures!! And I mean during the race too! Haha!

[Note: Melissa and I had discussed the race details over lunch.]

From: Missy
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:54 PM
To: Melissa
Subject: RE: YAY!!

Are you TRYING to get me arrested???? I’ll see if I can sneak some. But you better be willing to bail me out. Hahahaha!

From: Melissa
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:56 PM
To: Missy
Subject: RE: YAY!!

Hahahaha!! Hey, how cool would it be if you got arrested at the Pentagon? I mean, besides the body cavity search, it would be the coolest thing ever. It would put my silly “I almost got in trouble” story to SHAME! Lol! Take one for the team, Missy. I will totally bail you out.

From: Missy
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 2:58 PM
To: Melissa
Subject: RE: YAY!!

And I would make YOU a t-shirt that says “My friend got arrested at the Pentagon and all I got was this shirt.” Yes, I will take one for the team. Because who doesn’t like a body cavity search?

From: Melissa Webb
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 3:01 PM
To: Missy Moorefield
Subject: RE: YAY!!

Hahahaha!! Exactly! A body cavity search would totally add to the realism and authenticity of your story. Plus: coolest blog story ever! Bonus!

I’m totally excited about that shirt now too. Ahah!

So a couple of new goals in my life are:

1. Find new friends who don't encourage me to get arrested. Or succumb to a body cavity search (that just sounds fununpleasant).

2. And see if I can push the envelope as I'm running around the Pentagon. Oh Lord. If there are no more blog posts from me past October 21st, you'll know what happened. 

Oops, I did it again

Damn it. I never learn. Never.

I. Do. Not. Like. Running.  When the zombie apocalypse hits, I'm going to need guns with lots of ammo and pray that none of the zombies coming after me are of the sprinter variety, because if that plan fails... I think I can get use to eating brains.

Now that we've established that running and I are BFFs, guess what I've gone and done. Yep, I've signed up for another long distance race. Here, let me refresh your memory on my thoughts on running and me surviving that shit. By the way - I don't get a kick ass medal from this race.

In my defense this new race is NOT a half marathon. It's "only" 10 miles. Also it's around the Pentagon. So, how cool is that? Right? I suppose I can forfeit the medal for the sites I'll see. Maybe. [Note to self, demand that the Hubster make me a medal. Because I need one.]

Let me explain. In 2009 some friends of ours told hubby and me about the Army Ten Miler race in/around Virginia and DC. At that time hubby and I weren't even doing 5Ks, much less half marathons, so 10 miles sounded daunting (still does, actually). While we thought about doing it (we had a handful of months to start training), we bowed out gracefully because the race was the weekend before my black belt test in Tae Kwon Do. Besides not wanting to have 2 weekends in a row filled with ass-kicking, the fees for both my test and the race (plus gas, hotel accommodations, kenneling our dogs, etc, etc) kinda stopped us too.

Every year since then, those same friends would tell us about the race - either that the race was coming up or stories about how awesome the race had been that year. I got it in my head that I wanted to do this race. Not to mention, I sorta owe it to my father's memory and in honor of my brother. Dad retired from the Army and my bro enlisted for a couple of years before getting a medical discharge. So, obviously, the Army has a special place in my heart.

From visiting the website, I saw that registration would be open to the general public at 12:01am EST on May 15th. A few weeks ago, they had a special early registration for military folks (active and veterans) and for people who had done this race at least 7 times (2012 is the 28th year of this race, by the way). From that early registration, the number of registered participants was already up to 10,500. Only 30,000 can sign up. Our friends had told us that if we ever wanted to register of this race, we needed to be on the ball about doing so, because it sells out FAST.

So, being the anxious person that I am, I suggested to Jason that we stay up Monday night and register for this race, rather than wait until a decent hour on Tuesday. He agreed to my plan. And I'm glad we did. That race was sold out before 11:00am!!

So, it's time to step up my Crossfit classes and get my hard-core training on. I've got 5 months to get ready for another race.