10 Kilometers of.. Well ok.

Somewhere in the last couple of weeks Tim convinced me to run a 10K with him.

This is something people in Montevideo do all the time.  Tim ran in the Reebok 10K two days before we left for Peru, giving me nightmares about sprained ankles and shredded tendons; but he came back from it all sweaty and proud of himself (and wearing the ugliest neon yellow shirt I have ever seen).  I'm not really sure why I said yes to doing running in the "We Run Montevideo" Nike 10K, since it's something I want to do never, but Tim paid my entrance fee for me and I couldn't back out. 

So. What is there to say about it? In that snobby, obnoxious way that I have, I sort of feel like these are the kind of activities yuppies participate in (I'm not talking about you, Elsa!). I can't help it. I don't really understand why you would pay to exercise when you could just go out in the country and hike around for free.

Then again, after having participated--with 9,000 other runners--I can also see that having a common goal with a lot of other people is (even if the goal is sort of ephemeral) kind of incredible. I would never want to hike with 9,000 people.  This is just a whole different animal.

Uruguayos are way into this.  There were people of all different sizes, ages and abilities running (and rolling, and propelling themselves forward on crutches!).  And along the route, which took us along the Rambla, which hugs the rio, and then through the city, where people were lined up, cheering and drinking their yerba mate, banging pots and pans, and generally being very encouraging.  "Vamos! Vamos! Mas rapido!"

At one point along the route there was even a group of Uruguayan Candombe drummers, which is the first time I've had the chance to see them since I've been in the country. So insanely cool.

Anyway, because I am remarkably lazy, I/we hadn't trained much for the race. Once again we made it as far as day one, week two of Couch to 5K (where's my medal for that?).  But it really didn't matter all that much; we did fine.  My official time was something like an hour and 25 minutes, which you can check out here (and Tim's too) if you're so inclined. Not surprisingly, there weren't a lot of other "Smiths" or "Carpenters"in the race.

I'm not sure I'll ever do that again, but I'm not sure I won't. It was definitely satisfying and fulfilling to cross the finish line, and for an hour and half worth of activity, that's not something you can say about watching television or wandering around Best Buy. (But you can say about naps and drinking margaritas: two more things for which I have neither received, but for which I deserve, a medal.)