Warrior:
Sitting across the table from one of the most electrifying people I’ve ever met highlights how far I’ve come in my journey to recovery – I feel confident and composed, even though the butterflies are ramming full speed against my stomach. Damn, she’s gorgeous. She accepted my invitation to have dinner together – “for funzies”. Still not sure whether she understands that I am completely enamored of her, but we’re having a great time so I try not to worry about it too much. It’s important to me that she sees me for who I am. In the past I often put up a façade in order to seem more appealing, guessing at what I thought the other person wanted and completely missing the mark. This time would be different. I like who I am now, and if she doesn’t then I am finally in a place where I’m okay with that. Life will go on.
By the end of the evening, after some scintillating conversation, great food, and a romantic walk, my hopes are high. I see something in her that radiates positivity. She’s bright and passionate and seems to have similar goals to mine. I can absolutely feel chemistry between us. The spark is most assuredly there. We part ways with huge smiles on our faces. I can’t wait to see her again!
A while back, Robert, Liz, and I registered to compete in the Warrior Dash. It’s a five kilometer obstacle course meant to test your speed and willpower. It routinely draws around eight thousand competitors over two days. I am very excited to compete, as I haven’t done any racing since my early college days. I’m in decent shape as I have been hitting the roads as often as possible so I think I should do fairly well. I am also excited to spend more time with Liz and to see if she’s as dominant on a race course as she is on a mat. Robert maintains that he doesn’t run for training, but he’s in great shape so I imagine he’ll do well anyhow.
We meet at Five Rings. Liz made us patriotic outfits so we would look like a team and to honor the ten year anniversary of 9/11. The shredding makes us look badass and we add more decorations with markers and temporary tattoos. We drive out to the rural location where the race is being held and as we pull in we notice the traffic starting to build – there are a ton of people coming to this event! We can see an early heat of the race traversing an obstacle as we make our way to a parking spot. Our adrenaline is already starting to flow as we begin our search for the check-in.
Finding some other friends and acquaintances that we planned to meet proves to be less difficult than I first imagined, considering the crowds of people milling around the wooded area. I come face to face with one of the true tests of the day – besides being an intense race through the woods, the Warrior Dash is also a big party. Beer flows liberally and I can tell that some of the participants are more concerned with their buzz than with how well they do in the race. This is definitely the type of atmosphere where I would normally be pounding brews, but I honestly don’t find it that hard to turn away from them. It isn’t why I came and I won’t let it distract me from achieving my goals for the day.
We form up at the starting line, casually bantering with the other competitors as we stretch out. A realization hits me hard as the time to begin rapidly approaches. I smoked cigarettes for almost twenty years, and here I am – about to run as fast as I can up steep hills and across daunting obstacles. How amazing is that? I’ve really done it. I’m reaching goals that I once thought were impossible. BANG! The starter’s gun goes off and so do I. I sprint out of the gates and try to separate myself from the pack. The dust makes breathing and even seeing difficult at times, but the downslope allows a few of us who positioned ourselves well to get away from the main crush of racers. About a quarter of a mile into the race we hit our first inclines. These hills are steep and long, and do an excellent job of separating the folks who came to race and those who came for the party. As far as I can tell, I’m the first one of our team to hit the mile marker… and just as I think that, Liz blazes past me up the steepest part. Man, she is fast! At least for the moment, the trail became a lot more ‘scenic’.
Several miles and a bunch of obstacles later, I finish the race. My lungs are burning – I definitely reached some of the damage caused by my years of smoking. My legs are dead. I am elated with my performance and would dance if I could move. I settle for a hug from Liz, who finished several minutes ahead of me and a highfive from Robert, who comes cruising in less than a minute behind me. We try to find our finishing times for a while, but the computers are being slow. We make our way slowly to the ‘Car Wash’ to clean up, taking pictures along the way. There is a moment where I put my arm around Liz and she leans her head into my shoulder. I know then that someday we’ll be more than just friends, but for now all three of us revel in the moment. We celebrate being alive and the memories that we’re making. I am finally learning to appreciate the present.
Life.Is.Good.
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