Run, Camp, Sleep, and Repeat

The Alafia Ragnar Trail Relay was a super fun experience that took me completely out of my comfort zone. First of all, if I wasn't as healthy as I am right now, camping with Crohn's disease would have seriously freaked me out. Thankfully, I am not dealing with any symptoms, so it wasn't an issue. Secondly, even though I was camping with strangers (now I consider them new friends) and sharing a tent with a guy I only met a couple of weeks ago, my social anxiety was nonexistent because I felt welcomed and a part of the team, aka, Sloth Squad!  Lastly, I had never done trail running before and this past weekend I did an extremely difficult mountain bike trail with cliffs, hills that seemed like mountains, and hairpin turns (it felt like I was running in another state) and I even ran a trail at night...in the dark with a head light!  It was an amazing whirlwind of an adventure.

Unfortunately, I am not very good at trail running. I fell a total of four times and bruised my knees like a kid on the playground. I sprained my ankle on my first trail run. Somehow I managed to push through the pain and finish strong. I went straight to the first aid tent and had the medic tape my ankle tightly to limit its range of motion and offer support so that I could continue the relay. We had a onesie party at camp, porta potties became a way of life, and we became a part of the Ragnarian family!

I carpooled to the relay with two people on my team, The Sloth Squad. We left early on Saturday after we were finished with our legs of the race because we had to get back to Orlando while the rest of our team finished their last legs of the relay. Our team captain picked up our medals when they were done and I'm excited to get it from him Tuesday night at Ten10 Run Club.

I had to get back to Orlando to attend my company's holiday party. It was kind of a rush to get cleaned up from camping and running in order to be presentable at the semi formal event. I'm really glad my sister, Kelly, went with me as my plus one. We enjoyed the cocktail hour before the grand ballroom opened at the Orlando World Center Marriott. I introduced Kelly to co-workers, most of which were executive managers because that's who I work closest with. She got to meet George Smith, the co-founder of the company, which was neat. The International/Entertainment VP told Kelly and Mr. Smith about the Owner Contracts I'm working on for him. The party had a live band, a dance floor, a delicious buffet, and an open bar. I lost count of how many jack and cokes I enjoyed. I had an interesting conversation with our W/WW (water/wastewater) VP about running and triathlons. We are both typically quiet, but the alcohol made chatting more natural for both of us. lol. My supervisor even gossiped about office drama. I stayed seated for most of the night because my ankle was swollen and it hurt to walk, so walked with a limp. By the end of the night, I went to dance with a lady who asked me to go on the dance floor earlier. She danced all night long with her husband and others and was constantly pulling folks up on the dance floor with her. She introduced me to a guy on the dance floor and we danced together for a couple of songs. He twirled me!!! Seriously, I was twirled and I wasn't sure I was twirling correctly, but it was fun! I likely wasn't very graceful with my bum ankle though... not that I would have been more graceful without a bum ankle. Afterwards, Kelly said "Well, he was hot!".

The last few days have been a blast with very little sleep, which means it's time for a nap!

Who Am I?

When I was invited to a divisional party after work tonight, I didn't even hesitate to RSVP. The party was at Gators Dockside in Lake Mary. It was super nice of the Water/Wastewater division to invite me even though I'm not technically a part of their division. I was there from the beginning to end, 4PM - 7PM. That's right, I didn't just eat and leave. I socialized and I actually enjoyed it!  I would say about 50 people from the office showed up to enjoy free wings and beer.

I have been known to be socially awkward and quiet at times. However, I never once felt awkward or quiet tonight. So what were my go to topics of conversation? The NYC Marathon, of course. Oh yeah, and clowning was another popular topic. I even showed my clown skit graduation video to one of the VP's who found it extremely amusing. He didn't realize the clown picture at my desk was me. It was also fun hanging out with my supervisor whose favorite topic of conversation was her cats. She must have enjoyed hanging out with me too because she invited me to happy hour next time a few ladies in the office go out.

I Made a New Friend

Anyone one who knows me probably knows that I don't make friends easily. Mostly because it usually takes a lot of work to build a new friendship. These are my same sentiments about dating as well. I just don't have the energy for it.  My friends are not high maintenance (well, my bestie could be considered high maintenance, but she maintains herself). This is awesome because my friends and I can go for periods of time without communicating or without hanging out and our friendship won't falter. 

When building a new friendship, I never know the appropriate time to bring up Crohn's. Whether I like it or not, Crohn's has a huge impact on my life. It's stressful to conceal it until I build enough trust to feel comfortable discussing it with someone new in my life. I've seen enough people walk away because they couldn't handle it. As if they are the ones dealing with this shitty disease, not me. Some people think my whole existence is disgusting. In which case, I will not pursue a friendship/relationship. Once I consider you a friend, all bets are off and you might end up wishing I wouldn't trust you enough to share so many details.

I was talking with my cubicle neighbor, Ashleigh, at work and she mentioned her Mom has Ulcerative Colitis, which is another form of IBD. I told Ashleigh I know what UC is because I have Crohn's disease and I inquired about what medicine her Mom takes. Next week, Ashleigh and I made plans to bring our walking shoes to walk laps inside the mall during our lunch hour and talk about life. She even has some other stomach issues of her own that she shared with me. She became my friend the moment we mutually agreed that we could fart in front of each other. This is like an unrealistic dream come true.

I think I'm in the right place at the right time and surrounded with awesome people in my life.