A Day in the Life

So yeah, here’s how the last day has gone.

I worked a shift at my regular job on Saturday night, a shift that went from 8 pm to 12 am. The thing about these closing shifts is that much needs to be done before you leave the store for the night and doing such things – usually in a hurry – can wear you down pretty quickly. It’s not like working a regular shift where you clock out and walk out, no. They didn’t take too much of a toll on me but I’m still grateful to be working so close to home because of said tasks.

With my tasks done I then clocked out and drove my grueling 2 minutes home. (It’s been raining so I drove that day.) By then it was around 12:10 am on Sunday. I got home and Ann and I chatted a bit then decided to go to bed, around 12:30 am.

By the time I fell asleep (or remember doing so) it was about 1:30 am. I had already set my alarm for 5 am so that I could make it to the Coaster Run 5k in plenty of time since parking can be a hassle at the event.

I ate my usual runner’s breakfast of peanut butter toast and scampered down to Knott’s Berry Farm, the site of the venue. and while still cloudy, there was a glimmer of hope when the sun started to peek through as I sat at the corner of Beach and La Palma.

I parked the car then headed over to the event corrals where I was slated to start in Corral 7. I did some stretching, took a few photos, then waited for the waves to start.

The sun was still shining somewhat at this point but it didn’t last long because just as the run was starting to get underway, the skies just opened up and started to drop some rain on everybody.

It wasn’t coming down in buckets but it was definitely significant as you can tell by the number of ponchos in the crowd. Bah, really? But as was stated over and over in both emails and the event’s Facebook page, the event would continue rain or shine.

And so it did. I finished the 5k, drenched in rain, in 32:22 which was around 1 second slower than my PR in Hollywood. Overall, I finished 566th out of 2726 and finished 18th in my Old Man Division (45-49 males). Ran in rain from start to finish. The course is flat I love running through Knott’s, my stomping grounds from 1989-1991. It was a lot of fun.

Oh, did I mention that this race gives you a big, fat slice of boysenberry pie once you cross the finish line? Because they do and unlike last year, I devoured the whole thing in a matter of seconds. I must have really wanted it this year, almost as much as I wanted to devour a bag of hot, fresh kettle corn at 7 am.

If not for the beloved boysenberry and Walter Knott’s genius, the Farm or Buena Park may not have ever be what they are today. Well, Cordelia did make some wicked chicken.

Okay, 5k is done. I then stood in line to get my official finisher’s photo (taken by an event photographer and much like the image in the upper left of this collage). While in line, I spoke to a woman named Vickie who was running her first official 5k. She had decided to start running after she gave up smoking not too long ago and for that I commended her. She also told me she was in a car accident last night but it wasn’t going to stop her from participating in the run. Again, commendable. I’m sure she will be just fine in her fight against smoking. We all have stories and I love hearing them. It’s what makes runners understand other runners, why they do it, and why non-runners generally don’t “get it.”

By the time I got home it was around 9:30 and Ann already had plans for me, namely to go to Ulta and get her free birthday gift. (Did I mention her birthday was March 1st and we celebrated with friends at karaoke on February 28th after I worked a 4-8 pm shift?) Anyway, I ate a little bit, took a shower, and we were on our way.

She got her free makeup and by then the family was getting hungry. We then went to lunch at Chipotle  followed by desert at Yogurtland. I’m still running on 3.5 hours sleep.

While at lunch, I get a text from my buddy with whom I’ve been working for at his restaurant. He asked me if I wanted to work a few hours that night and me, never one to turn down a few bucks, agreed. I was to start at 4, meaning I’d have to leave around 3 pm.

We got home and I took it easy for a little bit. I think I may have closed my eyes for around 10 minutes before almost falling out of my chair after losing my balance. Still feeling relatively fine, I drove out to deliver some pizzas from 4-7pm.

With that shift done, I stayed around and did some catching up. He also told me I could make Ann a nice antipasto salad for her birthday if I wanted to, so I did. I left around 8 and got home around 8:45, just enough time for Anthony to see me and send him off to bed at 9 pm.

Finally, after being up since 5 am and getting less than 4 hours of sleep, my day had mercifully come to an end. I kicked up my feet on the recliner and grabbed the laptop in the hopes of chronicling the day’s events which didn’t work out that well. I ended up falling asleep while blogging yet again but at least I had an excuse this time. I finished the post just now, Monday morning.

So that was my day. Uh…how was yours?