2020 BTN 10K - Fearless Leader Jon Johnston & Traitorous Mrs CN

Mrs CN and I did the 2020 BTN 10K this morning.

It was supposed to rain most of the day, so we took our chances around 9:30 am and set off. It turned out to be a beautiful morning. We have tons of trails around where we live in Chaska, MN, so it’s easy to get out and get moving, whether by foot or wheel.

I will admit to some nervousness before we started. If you’d asked me three months ago if I thought I’d ever do a 10K in any form, I’d have lied it would be no problem and then ran away.

Since, things have changed. I quit drinking April 22nd. I began weaning myself off Depakote, a brain seizure medicine I had taken for my brain injury. I started walking daily. In June I bought the last new mountain bike left in the United State (or so it seems). I have tried to get in better shape physically AND mentally.

Jon Johnston

Mrs CN signed up but choose to join the enemy, a clear influence from our rotten son who attends the University of Minnesota. She took short videos along the way and she is perky most of the time. She’s in a helluva lot better shape than I am.

Doing a 10k wasn’t easy. It hurt. I started doing the “hand on hips” bit around the 2.5 mile mark. It’s clear that I need to get stronger physically in my core muscles as my back and should blades hurt like hell from three miles on.

Jon Johnston

Note that our time isn’t so great. Mrs CN informed me last week that she’d successfully run a 10K and instead of running today, she walked with me - something I greatly appreciate because I’m not sure I’d have finished if I didn’t have a supportive partner.

Also note that we went longer than 10K because I didn’t turn around at the halfway point, but insisted on going a little further. We ended up with a 12k instead of a 10k. Therefore when people question my crappy time, I can point out my superiority in going further because everyone knows if you can’t feel better about yourselves than others, what’s the point of living in the first place.

Today was but one step in changing my life from the guy who’s a drunken, loud obnoxious lout to a guy who’s loud, obnoxious, but in better shape and more willing to tell you about his diet and sobriety than you want to know.

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Now get out there and get moving.