Sand everywhere

Last night was the second to last track meet of the season.  And two of my friends who had been coming weren't there.  One had a sore hamstring, the other had to go out of town.  But my other two friends were there, and hubby came to watch (he had a crisis at work, otherwise he may have had time to change clothes and come run).  And one of my friends brought her sister, so there were 4 of us running. 

I decided to step out of my comfort zone in two ways.  First, I tried one brand new event.  And I mean brand new.  Second, I tried one new event, which meant I competed in more events than I'd done before.

My brand new event was the long jump.  Nope, never, ever tried anything like that.  Maybe in junior high?  It was fun.  The guy managing the event told us to warm up and use tape to mark where we'd start.  Well, I decided I didn't need to warm up.  You just run down a little straight thing, step on the line, and then jump into the sand.  I knew you couldn't step over the line, but I figured I'm used to adjusting my stride for something like a curb, so no big deal.  They give you 3 attempts and measure your best of the 3. 

My first attempt was a complete failure.  I ran, stepped, jumped, landed, and fell kind of backward but stayed upright.  The guy called foul.  My toes had gone past the line.  Oops.  I guess that's why everyone marked their starting points.

My second attempt was bad because I had to mess with my stride to make sure I didn't go over the line, which meant I lost any speed I had gained.  But at least it was a valid jump.  And way further than I would have guessed I could go.

And then my third attempt was half a foot further and also valid.  Woot!

I was so proud of myself.  I asked 2 people -- a guy who lined up next to me in the 200 meter sprint, and one of my best friends who I talked to on the phone after the meet -- to guess how far I jumped.  They both independently said, well, I have no idea.  And I insisted, just guess.  And they both guessed 15 feet.  Haha.  So yeah, not quite.  Not quite 10 feet either.  Not really even close.  So I won't be asking anyone else to guess how far I can jump.  It was a major ego deflater.  Well, no really, I'm still pretty thrilled to have done it and gone further than I expected (for the record, my guess was 3 feet). 

Anyway, my second new event was just running, so not really new.  I ran the 4x400 meter relay with my friends.  It was fun and very hard because it was the last event of the evening.  We got smoked by some of the other teams, but you know, who cares?

But that means by adding the long jump and the relay, I did the most events I've ever done in a night.  The meet has 2 separate schedules, and they alternate weeks.  I did the same 4 events I did 2 weeks ago, and I added the jump and the relay, for a total of 6 events. 

Needless to say, I skipped boot camp this morning (I'm doing the social run tonight anyway).  When I got home from the meet I was exhausted.  And hubby was beat down too.  Major stress at work for him (nothing lasting, just one guy with some major medical issues, and now hubby's done with him).  So I had cold cereal for dinner, hubby had leftover pasta.  I talked on the phone with a friend, he played on his phone.  Then we watched a little of the Bachelorette. 

And then we went to bed.  I was exhausted and I asked if he cared if I didn't shower (at that point, I still thought I'd be going to boot camp in about 7 hours).  He said not at all.  I wasn't sweaty.  We change our sheets all the time.  So I went to bed.  And as soon as I got settled in, I realized there was sand on my legs.

Yuck.  On my second long jump attempt, I fell down, falling forward in the sand, as you're supposed to (if you fall backward, it counts against you).  Well, I'd brushed it off my arms and hands, but it wasn't until I got to bed that I realized it was still on my legs. 

I was so tired that I just ignored, but I guess I know what else I'll be doing before I go to work today!