Running 12 Miles in Wet Shoes is a Good Distraction

I know this is going to sound incredibly naive and juvenile, but I believe I can do anything.

Granted, the challenges in my life tend to fall into the category of first-world-white-girl-kind-of-problems, which lowers the bar quite a bit, but still, I find that if I tell myself I can do anything, oftentimes, I can.

So when Josh asked me if I wanted to complete a Tough Mudder obstacle run in Tahoe with him, I agreed. I will admit, I did hesitate when he first asked me.  Not because I was scared of  the Tough Mudder, but I didn't know if doing something like this with Josh would be good for our relationship. Josh and I have openly admitted that we don't know if our marriage would survive if we were ever contestants on the "Amazing Race."

That, and in general, I'm not someone who believes that  jumping off a 15 foot plank into ice cold water is "fun."  But, I complied because (1) this meant we would get to spend a weekend in Tahoe, (2) I thought it would be a memorable way to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary, and (3) I can do anything.

It just so happened that the day before the Tough Mudder event, was the day that we found out Archie had the legion in his spinal cord. After spending much of the day sobbing on the tile floor at the ER with Arch, I took him home, handed him off to my mother, kissed Lola good-bye, and drove up to Tahoe with Josh.

At what was supposed to be our romantic anniversary dinner, Josh and I gazed into each others bloodshot eyes and drank cheap wine.  We tried to talk about the run, how much we loved the fresh mountain air, the challenge of running at 8000 feet. I tried really hard to make it through the meal without crying. We ended up having to box up most of our food.

The next morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed, put on lots of Dri-Fit clothing, and made our way to the start of the course. Josh had a great time, and used the words "fun" and "awesome" throughout the experience. I, on the other hand, was trying so hard to avoid thinking about Archie, that I don't think I said much of anything. I felt like my body was on auto-pilot and all of my energy was focused on each immediate task. Even though I had spent weeks prior to the race stressing about how in the world I was going to survive such a messy disaster, on the day of, the race became such a non-event.

About three-fourths of the way through the race, we had to climb into a giant pit of mud. It was disgusting. Afterwards, there was a photographer waiting to take photos of the participants.  Josh is grinning because he loved the mud.  I know I am smiling too, but that's because I was no longer in that disgusting muddy pit.