Short Story

One time, I signed up for a 5k. I asked Johnny to go with me, but he'd been ill for a week and really wasn't up for it.

The night before, I talked him into joining me, telling him we'd walk the whole thing.

We got up early and drove up to Salt Lake where the run was.

We registered, got our numbers and t-shirts, and stood around for an hour waiting for the run to start. Johnny spent the time telling me why it's so sad that people say things like "You're a great athlete - for a girl", and if he were a girl, he'd hate himself for not being as awesome as guys are at sports. I got a headache from rolling my eyes so much.

It was wet and cold, and Johnny was ill and wanted to leave.

(Don't be deceived by this super tough photo of him)

As we walked to the starting line we decided to start jogging a little - straight to the car. Turns out, a popular diner that had been featured on the Food Network was right up the street.

I felt so guilty, I really did want to run my first 5k, but how can I deny an ill husband (who had already forewarned me that he'd rather eat a dozen donuts than go running early in the morning)?

Here he is exhausted after walking from the car to the diner, proof he couldn't handle slowly walking around a park.

Good thing the food was excellent or I really would've felt guilty.

What I learned from this experience: don't kid yourself. You don't like getting up early, running, rain, cold, but you DO love breakfast in fun diners, donating to charity, and supporting a good cause.

Next time, donate online from home before going out to breakfast to avoid guilt and a sense of failure.

The End.