Miggie Smalls

I participated in the Capitol 10K yesterday, and I was kind of scared because one, I’m obese, and two, I finished 2nd to last of all males in my previous 10K. I know that a lot more people run the Cap 10K, and my results weren’t going to be that bad, but my pretty putrid results were in the back of my mind.

The conditions during the race were pretty bad, I guess. It was humid and it rained for most of the race. The powers-that-be don’t consider that “optimal running conditions” for some reason. I’m so glad Team Zen hooked me up with a tech shirt, because I know if I had been wearing cotton, it would’ve been a disaster.

I ran with my Team Zen homie, Anjie, and although I probably would’ve finished sooner if I did it truly solo, I think it felt better to push each other. She wanted to flake out on the running a few times, and we would take a lot of walking breaks, but in the end I was still able to blow my previous time out of the water. I shaved 17 minutes off my previous 10K! Now, to most people, 1:22 would be an abomination, but this is a crazy breakthrough for me. I know that if I had done it by myself, it could’ve easily been 1:15, but I don’t care. I’m a part of a team, and I just did what teammates do.

My next race is the Bun Run in two weeks. I’m hoping for a sub 13 min/mi pace. We’ll see.

Last night, I went and had dinner at The Salt Lick with a few members of the UniWatch Nation and Paul Lukas, esteemed writer and founder and main contributer to the UniWatch Blog. It was cool that I was able to meet Paul - I had read most of his uniform-related stuff since his days at Slate and I’ve exchanged a few emails with him. For what it’s worth, I’m also a charter member of the UniWatch Nation, so you know I take this stuff way to seriously.

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