Adventures in Walking From the Couch to 5K - Chapter 19

AJ is sitting in the kitchen and thinking to herself it is incredible that tonight is the final night of training before the race. I am excited and sad all at the same time. I have met some great friends and have enjoyed meeting with them weekly. Plus, I am not as sore as I was in the beginning.

Carson and Cooper go running to the front door because their dad is in the driveway. Michael parks his truck and walks up to the door. The boys open the door and Michael comes inside. “Alright boys, let me in the door. We will have some pizza and watch TV,” Michael tells the boys.

“Carson and Cooper, I am going to be leaving shortly. You guys be good for your dad.” AJ says while putting her shoes on. The boys give her a hug and kiss goodbye. She goes out to her truck and drives to her group meet-up location.

Vicki and AJ are the first ones at the location. They get out of their vehicles.

“Hi!” Vicki says.

“Hi! How’s it going?” AJ replies.

“Great. I’ve been doing all of my homework and the exercises every day.”

“Awesome! The exercises really help.”

Angela drives up and then the rest of the group joins them.

“Good evening ladies! Tonight is our last group walk before the race. We are going to do the race route and then we will come back here for goodies that Sharon brought. Let’s go!” Angela instructed the group.

The group goes across the road at the traffic light. “We are going to start part way into the course so that we aren’t doubling up tonight. We will go to the start/finish line before we are done tonight. First, we are going to continue down to the entrance.” Angela instructs her group.

The group walks 2 by 2 down the sidewalk and gets to the university entrance and turns right. Vicki and AJ lead the group a short distance, and then they turn left to go towards the Meadowbrook Hall. This is a nice winding road that goes downhill into the entry area by the garages of Meadowbrook Hall. They walk across the brick and get to the roundabout and turn right and then turn right onto the small bridge that is canopied by trees. There are many birds hidden in the trees that are chirping as they walk by.

Immediately past the trees they walk by the white fence and turn to the left where the road leads to the soccer fields. The group comes to a challenging hill that goes to the right. Vicki and AJ are still at the front of the group and Angela and Karin are bringing up the back of the group. The group is pretty close together in pace. The sun is shining brightly and heating the asphalt that they are walking on.

At the top of the hill Angela says, “Let’s stop and take a water break. Along the race route there will be water stops. With this being a 5K, there will be only one. I highly recommend that you carry water with you. It’s going to be a hot one, so make sure that you also have electrolytes.”

After a few minutes, “Alright, let’s get back moving,” Angela takes the lead along with AJ.

They go to the right where they head alongside some soccer fields and towards the on campus housing. The next intersection they get to, they cross over and go down the stairs and are walking along the on-campus housing. The road on the other side of the housing is getting busy and the traffic is noisy. Once they get to the road that comes in from the main road they wait for traffic and then cross. The path now is alongside the on-campus road with vehicles driving by fairly closely. This path leads to the entrance to Meadowbrook where the start/finish line is.

“Ladies, this is where we will start and finish. There will be tents here on the left for the post race goodies and lots of port-a-johns. We will head back to our vehicles now. We are a short distance away,” Angela informs the group. They take the path up along the main road and the trees where they head to the traffic light for the ladies to cross back to their vehicles.

After a short wait at the traffic light they are able to cross over and get back to their vehicles. Sharon gets the goodies out of her vehicle and puts them in the back end of Angela’s car. Sharon brought mini-cupcakes for celebrating their great training plus some small bottles of chocolate milk. It is treat night.

Angela instructs them, “Now that we have completed the race route you ladies are all ready for the race. We will meet here at 6:00 am. Yes, this seems early, but due to road closures it’s easier for us to be here early. Plus we can cheer on those going out for races ahead of ours. Before the race day you will need to go to the race expo. Make sure that you email me when you will be going to the expo so that I can get the list out to everyone. It’s been great fun training with you ladies. Have a great evening and see you at the expo and/or race morning here.”

“I am planning on going to the expo on Sunday,” says Vicki.

“Me too,” chimes in Kim.

“I’ll be there on Sunday also,” says Denese.

“I’ll check and see, but I think that I can make it then also,” AJ adds.

Karin says, “I am going on Monday.”

“Monday works for me,” says Doree.

“I’ll see Kim, Denese and AJ on Sunday and Karin and Doree race morning. Which are you going to Angela?” inquires Vicki.

“Sunday looks like it’ll work for me.”

The ladies go to their vehicles. AJ gets into her truck and drives home. She has a nice short drive home and pulls her truck into her garage.

AJ goes into her townhouse, “Carson and Cooper, I am home!!!”

The boys come running up to her from the living room and give her a hug. She takes her shoes off and goes into the living room.

“How were the boys?” she asks Michael.

“They were really good. We had pizza and the boys watched Scooby Doo,” he replies.

“Glad to hear it.” She says.

“Well boys, time for me to go and you guys to get ready for bed.” Michael says to the boys. They give him a hug and kiss and then head upstairs to get ready for bed. Michael leaves and AJ heads upstairs to get comfortable. She tucks Cooper and Carson into bed and then lays in bed reading her book.