My recent posting hiatus is due primarily to the fact that MDA Summer Camp is looming on my horizon. The closer it gets, the more time I spend in the office, skimming through piles of barely legible camp applications, thinking up feasible arts and crafts projects and trying to find a good price for the forty 48" beach balls I need to buy for the wheelchair soccer tournament. I try to remind myself that, someday, I will have my evenings and weekends back. That day is June 17 and it will definitely involve a bottle of wine.

Take the long work hours, throw in an excess of physical activity (I, apparently, overdid it on Easter weekend) and you get a few weeks of "blah" workouts. Every bike ride felt hard; every run made my legs ache; my IT band flared up. Even a massage and new running shoes didn't give me the renewed energy for which I was hoping.

This situation called for drastic measures. That's right, I went swimming. For the first time in six months, I entered the water-walker-infested pool at L.A. Fitness with a goal of swimming 800 yards. Though forced to rest every 100 yards by a skyhigh heartrate, hyperventilation and noodle arms, I am proud to report that I met this goal. When it was all over, I felt good. And so I registered for the Firecracker Triathlon. I know that swimming helps keep me injury-free, but I also know that I need motivation to do it regularly. The possibility of embarrassing myself at a triathlon is fantastic motivation.

This morning, Paul and I participated in the Cinco de Mayo 10K. Taking into account my general lethargy of the past few weeks, I decided to take this one nice and easy. Now, I've said this before only to get caught up in the race excitement, run all out, and then take a week to recover. To avoid repeating this mistake, I knew I needed some insurance. The plan? Find someone else looking to slum it and chat it up with them for 6.2 miles. Luckily, shortly after the starting gun, I heard someone call out my name and was pleased to find it was Jackie, fellow Tri Girl, work associate and, now, perfect running partner.

Cinco is a decent-sized race for Tucson, drawing about 600 people to its scenic, if hilly, course. The out-and-back route gave me the opportunity to cheer for Paul, friends, and all of the other Tri Girls racing. We had a good showing of purple at this event with Beatriz, Eve, Robin, Sheryl, April, Anne and more.

I'm happy to report that, together, Jackie and I reached our individual goals. We crossed the finish line at about 1:09:53, sneaking under her 1:10 time goal. And I had a nice, easy, painless, enjoyable run. Around mile 5, I suddenly realized that I felt good. No aches, no fatigue, no overwhelming desire to halt forward motion. Mission accomplished.

Post-race festivities featured breakfast burritos, mariachis and a hilarious kids race involving 25 sombrero-wearing tots running their hearts out and then beating the hell out of a pinata. Happy Cinco de Mayo!