Lose Your Quit Quest 24

Step 24:  Drag your excuses out into the light of truth.

"Excuses are like armpits; everybody's got a couple and they stink." - Mike Warnke, Comedian

This weekend, I had a lot of chances to make excuses.  I would have missed some great times if I'd given in to them.

Last week, I signed up for a 5k I'd never done before.  The Making Tracks 5k is at Anniston Army Depot.  I almost didn't sign up because of the unfamiliarity with that area of the county. (Y'all know I hate getting lost.)  After getting about 5 different sets of directions by e-mailing someone at the depot and talking to friends in ARC who've done the race, I nervously hit the road Saturday morning.  Yes, I found it without getting lost.

The weather was perfect and the course was gorgeous.  The trees were lush and green.  Part of the course took us around a pond.  I wanted to stop and take pictures so badly.  However, I did restrain myself so I could finish the race in a respectable time (for me anyway).

Well guess what?  I've now got my first piece of hardware.  That's right, I took second in my age class.  Yes, there were a lot of "WTH?" looks when my name was called.  I didn't care.  I cheered for myself.  So what if there were only two in my age group.  I'm proud of my medal.  It gives a message which is that all the ladies in the 40-44 age bracket who stayed in bed and made excuses for not coming to the race can SUCK IT!

Sunday, I went to a ride/cookout with Northeast Alabama Bicycle Association.  When I first saw the announcement of Facebook, I started to ignore it because I figured it was just for members; it wasn't.  Well, my next excuse was "my worship leader probably won't let
me off from practice for it."  He did.  Then it was, "Well, I only know one person at this thing.  I'll most likely end up riding alone."  I did only know one person, but I met a lot of nice people and I didn't ride alone.  We rode from Germania Springs Park in Jacksonville to the Eubanks Welcome Center in Piedmont and back-- a total of almost 21 miles.  I'd not ridden that far in one sitting since last year, but we did it.

Because I didn't let excuses get in the way, I had a weekend full of fun, memories, and sore muscles.  See y'all in a couple of days.