Getting Stretched by a Stranger - Santa Suits on the Loose 5k 2024

Hello, and welcome to a very melancholy race report, brought to you by the letters D, E, A, T, and H. 

For those who may not know, our cat Clover was diagnosed with Lung Cancer a few days after Thanksgiving, and after giving a kitty middle-finger to the nurse who estimated she had a very short time left, she passed away on December 13. 

Yesterday. 

Over the past year, personally, I've been trying to get myself back into some semblance of a routine, and getting back to running and doing races. I signed up for Santa Suits on the Loose way back in the spring, so from that standpoint, this was the worst day for a race to be on for me. If Clover was still alive, there was no way I would have left the couch, but when I went to bed last night, I thought that this would be good for my mental health. I've been moping around the house a lot this year, because of Hubby's health issues, my own health issues, and then Clover's health issues. So, I decided to go and kind of force myself to be jolly. 

I drove out to St. Augustine (as always, leaving too early), and parked in my favorite spot. I put on some of my festive gear (like my cute skirt and my Christmas Tree hat), but I just felt like a faker. I walked around everyone else feeling like a robot. 

I honestly can't tell you anything that stood out from this race... There were cute dogs and babies and costumes and a marching band. But I have no funny stories, or random thoughts that I had at Mile 2. It was like I was just programmed to walk and think of nothing at all. And, in a way, I'm so thankful for that. It was an hour of not thinking, or feeling loss, or actually crying. I was able to just zone out and stop feeling at all. I didn't have to think about Clover. Or work. Or Christmas. Or anything. I simply existed to put one foot in front of the other (okay, Winter Warlock). 

On the upside, because I wasn't thinking about anything, I wasn't thinking about how far I was walking, or how long it was taking, so I kind of just "arrived" at the finish line without realizing it'd been an hour! I picked up my medal and a bottle of water, and a few snacks. 

As I was walking around, heading back to my car, I saw that there were a few tables set up, for what I assumed was massage, but then realized it was for a company called Stretch Zone. Usually after races, these types of services are either busy because they're free, or empty because you have to pay. These were free and they were empty! So yeah, you bet I walked over there! After a short chat with the employee, telling him that I usually felt pain in my upper external calves and lower external hamstrings after a race, he moved ahead with a full lower-body routine. I figured that this would be more akin to a quickie chair massage, but I was on this man's table for at least 20 minutes! He stretched my leg up toward my head, out (like a straddle), in across my body, bent my knee and shoved my foot toward my tushie, rotated my knee out like a frog... There was a lot that he did, and holy shit, it all felt so good... well, as good as it can with my jacked-up muscles. He said that my hip flexors were severely tight (no, you don't say?!) and that I should work on them at home. As I got myself back together, I thanked him for his stretching, saying that I'd never experienced an actual stretching session before. He reached into a box and pulled out a Goodie Bag for me! He said that there was some swag in there, as well as a gift card, and took a photo of me for social media (I wonder if they'll use it, lol). Back in the car, I checked out my goodies, which included a container of Tic-Tacs, some lip balm, and y'all... a $50 gift certificate to the local Stretch Zone! Yeah, they're probably really expensive then, right? Nah, I don't think so. I looked them up later, and they look to cost about $100 for an hour-long session, so basically, it's half-price. I plan on using it soon, next time I'm in St. Augustine (maybe after Gate River Run in March... that's only an hour's drive south). They also have something called a Flex Membership, that is $100/month that includes two stretches per month, with the ability to pay a smaller fee for extra stretches. Honestly, $50 is about what I spend for my massages... And I found out that they have a Stretch Zone in the city I live in! I'm really wondering if it's beneficial to get me limbered up to a point that I can take over and fix myself the rest of the way... 

Anyway, after a delicious stretch, I headed over to Culver's for lunch, picked up some groceries at Aldi, then headed home. I felt a little better by the time I got home, but when I parked and didn't see Clover in the window, I remembered that she was gone, and it just hit me all over again. I went inside and snuggled with hubby for a while then had dinner and went to bed early. Today helped a little, but not nearly as much as I wanted it. 

ETA: I don't think it fixed as many of my mental issues as I thought it did... I kind of had a little meltdown about a week after this post... Not my finest day, but a totally understandable one.