Aaron's Crazy Race

AARON'S LAST-MINUTE RACE ENTRY
DAY 4 -- Food, Food Everywhere!

When I awoke at 4:00 am, I already knew today would be a regression in my race preparation. The only question was the degree of lost ground. Racing aside, the morning was great because my daughter had her first Karate test and passed with flying colors. I was so proud of her but feared what she might do to me when she was a black belt! Our next event was the "Spring Fling" fundraiser for the Colorado Heritage Camps. It was attended by our good friends, the Lyman family, whose daughter Zoe was a Karate colleague of Holly's. To help boost sales, I had purchased 250 tickets for buying food and playing games. I only bought food.

The event was in Denver at Johnson & Wales University. Food from a variety of nations and cultures was offered with each serving requiring one or more tickets. Suffice it to say I went around the world. Whether it was Thai spring rolls, various Indian delicacies, a range of African treats, Philippino coconut shrimp, or whatever, I gorged myself on food and drinks even though I gave away a good number of my tickets. Many of the dishes were served piping hot and most had wonderful sauces which accompanied them. It was like an international buffet. Of course, because it was for a good cause, I couldn't stop eating, could I? 

Our one-hour stay turned into over three hours. We had a great time. Holly and Zoe frequently came to get tickets and were quite independent. Carly Lyman (8) spent much of her time in the petting zoo and became a zoo assistant. Pat and Randy shopped and visited with me as I ate and ate and ate. No food item was safe from my reach. After my 12th cup of lemonade (each was only one ticket), I knew I had to stop or get my stomach pumped.

I drove home only to face a house that needed cleaning (finally, some exercise!) and a meal that needed preparation. My sister, Leah, and her family arrived as did my Mother, and I made dinner while everyone else was having fun outside. Angel hair pasta with various sauces -- one was composed of scallops, another was composed of shrimp, and a third was tomato-cheese-garlic combination -- was a hit as were the other courses served, including some of the international items I had purchased in bulk. Hating to leave food behind, I finished several dishes as the meal ended -- another bad weight-related habit.

The day ended as a fun one but with only weight added and no real exercise completed. I put a positive spin on it and argued I needed a day off. It sounded good to me. My next problem was that Holly's cousin Joel now was spending the night (a last-minute decision) and that meant I'd be up late again fending off the incessant attacks of a 70-pound 10 year-old and her 120-pound 11 year-old cousin. They thought nonstop wrestling with them (two against one) was part of my job description. I finally got to sleep -- with one eye open -- at midnight. It was a good day from a father's perspective but not from a racer's perspective. At this point, I was no longer trying to calculate my possible race finish time; rather, I was calculating the odds of whether or not I would finish the race!

Note: To enter in the Bolder Boulder and run with Aaron, go to www.BolderBoulder.com.

NEXT: Day 5 -- No Day of Rest

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