2013 in Review

As 2013 winds down and I look back on it, it has turned out to be an extremely productive year. The year didn’t start off that different than the previous years other than my regular trips to the gym to work out. I had never been a fan of the gym – I don’t like crowds and I always preferred to do any workouts at home, though I don’t have any weights and was limited to bodyweight exercises. A group of friends at work play soccer on Thursdays and in the spring, we decided to add a second day of soccer on Mondays. I played both days most weeks from New Year’s to Memorial Day.

One thing I tried to do more this year was take chances and opportunities. I liken it to the movie Yes Man where Jim Carrey’s character says yes to anything that comes his way, though I was les liberal with my acceptances. In February I agreed to be team captain of our company’s Relay for Life team. We hadn’t fielded a team in 2012 and our team in 2011 was small, so I was hoping to get a good bounce-back. We rolled through several fundraisers – one a week – for two months until the night of the Relay. We ended up raising around $4500 in two months’ time with a sizable team of almost twenty walkers. It was exhausting and I swore that I would not be captaining again in 2014, though I did write up all my thoughts on the process – what worked, what didn’t, and thoughts for next year – to be given to the next captain.

On February 13^th, I took the day off work to spend the day at the movie theatre watching a Die Hard marathon before a late-night premiere of the new movie, A Good Day to Die Hard. I had never seen the first three movies on the big screen, so it was worth the admission just for that experience, as Die Hard is my favorite movie. The new movie was pretty bad – it made an okay action movie, mostly forgettable, but it was a horrible Die Hard movie. I wouldn’t see any other Hollywood movies in theatres this year, but I did see Mile… Mile and a Half at the Athen’s Theatre in Deland, where I would also see All Shook Up and The King is Back, and I also saw Appalachian Impressions.

Also in February and March, a coworker asked if I wanted to canoe down Rock Springs Run, which we did four times over about five or six weeks, culminating in an overnight camping trip at the Otter Campsite along the run. This led to many weekends hanging out and many new experiences throughout the year.

In early February, I had gotten an email about the Space Coast Marathon and how they were planning to do a five-year event with medals celebrating the space shuttles. I immediately signed up for the marathon, figuring I had a whole year to get ready for it. I had always wanted to do a marathon and a flat Florida course seemed like a good start. I wouldn’t actually start training for several months though.

In late April I started running shorter races, the Healthy Heart 10K, the Run for the Trees 5K, the Seminole High School Spirit 5K, the Rescue Run 5K, the Lake Mary 5K, and The Nude Run 5K. A friend had told me about the Healthy Heart 10K, happening just down the street from where I live and I had only run one 10K previously, so I jumped on it. The Run for the Trees 5K was one I had run before, but you get a tree for completing it, so I had specifically looked it up online in order to run it again. It also runs through private communities that have very nice scenery. The Rescue Run 5K is one that happens in the park next to where I work and our company sponsors a team every year, so I competed in it for the third or fourth time. The Seminole High School Spirit 5K runs through my old high school and the parking lot of my old middle school, so it was a nostalgic race for me and also culminated in my fastest 5K ever. The Lake Mary 5K was another race close by that took place near the library I go to, so it was a familiar area. I decided to do the Nude Run 5K while looking for races with something exciting to offer, as opposed to the mundane show up and run 5K.

Nudism

I’ve had a couple nudist experiences in my lifetime, both in the past several months. I don’t have a problem with nudity and I find it silly that people do. Some people claim that they don’t want to see ugly people naked. Well, if their face is ugly, we don’t force them to cover that up, do we? I think most people are just uncomfortable with anything out of the ordinary, while others project their lack of self-confidence by not wanting anyone to be who they are. Humans started out naked. Humans are born naked. Clothes provide protection and warmth (oh, and they’re also a status symbol – wouldn’t want people to think less of you, now would you!)

As I mentioned, I’ve had two nudist experiences and I figured I’d go into detail on both just because I can (and someone, somewhere may find it interesting.) My most recent experience is actually pretty tame. I traveled out to a beach that’s known to be clothing optional to do some swimming. I did not partake in being nude – and I was actually surprised at how many nude people there were. While this particular location is known for nudity, it’s not exactly legal, just overlooked. I figured there’d be a few people lounging nude ready to cover up at a moment’s notice, but instead I found not only a plethora of people lounging around nude, but also people walking along the beach nude, swimming in the ocean nude, and playing games nude. It was actually really interesting to see, though I tried to be polite and not focus my eyes too much on anyone.

My other experience was a little more exciting, though aside from the nudity it would be considered extremely tame. On June 15^th, I drove up to Pierson, FL to run a 5K. The 5K was held at Sunny Sands Nudist Resort and was called The Nude Run 5K. The resort was nice, with homes scattered about, a campground, a small golf course, a hiking trail, a pool, and a restaurant/bar.

As I’ve mentioned before, running normal 5Ks bores me, so I look for interesting races to run. Sometimes I’ll run longer races just because it’s a challenge. Sometimes I’ll run a 5K race that my company sponsors, so I can run for free and with a lot of co-workers. I’ve run a 6K while carrying a gallon of water (or it might have been two gallons, I don’t remember). I’ve run a 5K at my old high school for nostalgia’s sake. I like to run 5Ks that are close to home, just because it’s easy and it’s a commitment. I had wondered if there were any nude 5Ks. I had never been involved in the nudist community before, but it seemed interesting. So I found a nude 5K and signed up for it thinking “what the hell.”

During the spring I had been playing Soccer twice a month and wrecked my legs, especially my right knee, so I wasn’t even sure I would run up until the morning of the race when I made my last-minute decision. I was nervous, unsure of what to expect. I made it to Sunny Sands with a lot of time to spare, but I quickly stripped down to nothing by my shoes and sunglasses. I picked up my packet and went to the restroom. It’s odd going to the restroom and not having to fiddle with clothing. Since I had a lot of time to spare, I took a walk along the hiking trail to warm up my legs. It’s a short trail, so it didn’t kill much time at all, so then I rehydrated myself and played with the idea of bringing my phone with me to listen to music, but having no clothing meant having no pockets (and I don’t have an armband), so I reversed course on that idea.

More people showed up, stripping nude to run. Once the race was about to start, we all got written on with markers to designate our numbers. We walked to the start line, were instructed of the course (three laps around the resort, then cut through a few streets to the end), and then we were off. There were less than 30 people running, which was a broad difference to almost any other race I had run, usually pulling at least 300. It was actually nice to not have a crowded field.

Not a quarter of a mile in, on a downhill, I rolled my ankle and from that point on my lower leg was cramping non-stop. I had to constantly switch between running until I couldn’t stand the pain and walking until the pain got down to a bearable level. Nearing the middle of the third lap, just as my foot had gone completely numb, releasing me from the painful steps I had been taking, an older gentleman passed me and said something along the lines of “don’t let someone with a knee replacement beat you!”

While I’m pretty good at pushing myself and enjoy doing better than I’ve done before, I’m extremely competitive and what was a friendly word of support turned into a challenge. Not only could I not lose to him, I had to end the run on a high note. So with my foot numb, thumping along as I ran, I hauled ass and passed my motivational friend. He shouted out “there you go!” as I raced away and passed a few more people. I continued my run/walk technique, now for my burning lungs, until I finished my third lap and then I sped up a little down the first road. I made a turn onto what I thought was the final road and hauled ass as fast as I could down the road until my burning lungs and legs convinced me that I would need to make one more turn. Finally on the final road, I couldn’t quite haul ass anymore, but I went as fast as I could through the finish line.

My final time was horrible, I was exhausted, but they gave me free Gatorade (yay!) and I went to my car to wipe away the sweat and chug my cold refreshment. I returned to cheer on the final runners as they passed through the finish line and then everyone headed to the bar for free beer. Except me. I can’t stand beer. I used to be able to drink it if it was there, but after busting ass on a 5K once, a celebratory beer almost made me vomit and since then beer just doesn’t do it for me. So I pulled out a good book, sat on a chair in the shade and read for an hour or two, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

The heat of the day started coming on, I didn’t bring sunscreen, and the sun was beginning to come through the trees, so I decided to get dressed and hit the road. It was an interesting experience and at the time I thought I would be satisfied with just the one outing, but looking back on it, I think I’d be willing to do it again. It was a lot of fun and I feel I have something to prove with an injury-free performance.

A third nude experience I have had would be running through the woods naked while camping out once. But there were no strangers around, so I wouldn’t really consider it to be a nudist experience. It also only lasted a minute. I also rolled my ankle during that run. I do that a lot.

That’s all of my experiences, have you ever tried anything clothing-optional? Or ever done a nude run? I’d love to hear your experiences; leave a comment! And if you haven’t tried it, would you ever? If you’re on the fence, I suggest just giving it a try – it’s never as bad as you think it is. Everyone else is naked, so it’s just as normal as when everyone’s clothed.