Cool Runnings // Why You Should Never Exercise Ever

Today's mission: 

July 9th: Most Embarrassing Story - Some of us have a ton to pick from. Share with us something really embarrassing you've done in your life.

Oh yes.  The sweet spot. 

Foreword
A word, please before this whole "embarassing story" business gets started.  Personally, I really like it when embarrassing things happen to me.  Not to say that I'm not completely mortified in the moment - trust me, I've bargained with God to avoid the unfortunate situation I've gotten myself into more than a few times.  However, I like to think I'm good at seeing the big picture; while I'm being royally humiliated, there's this little voice in the back of my mind that's all like, "This is going to be super hilarious later," and it's thanks to this voice that I've been able to survive a number of awkward conversations and klutzy public disgraces.   It's probably also due largely to that voice that I keep allowing stuff like this to happen to me. 

Part 1
Once upon a time, volleyball season was over and cross country season was not.  I play volleyball, but I also like to run sometimes and was looking for something to do.  So, brilliantly, I asked my totally insane cross country running friend, Maria, if she thought the coach would mind if I ran with them one day.  She said, no, she didn't think the coach would mind, and other people did that all the time.  

The appointed day of the run arrived: October 31, 2012 (AKA Halloween of my sophomore year of high school).  I had plans to go trick-or-treating with my non-running friend, Elise, after I ran, and so I forced  encouraged her to come run with me so she wouldn't have to wait around school alone.  She grudgingly borrowed some too-long sweatpants and too-big running shoes and we followed the cross country team into the wet, muddy woods.  Which Elise really appreciated given her attire. 

We made it through the warm up to a spot on the other side of the woods from school where the team stretched.  We began to stretch, and apparently that's the first time the coach noticed us, because she quickly informed us that it was a closed practice and we weren't welcome, effective immediately.  Which she announced in front of the whole team.  She proceeded to give us quick directions back to school, and I pretended to understand them, knowing that my keen sense of orientation would get us back, no problem.  

Yeah, it didn't.  We couldn't figure out what the heck the coach had been trying to tell us, and Elise's pants - and her morale - got soggier by the second.  We decided to head back along main roads, which took us about a mile out of the way but was sure to at least get us back.  We walked along,  (Elise was way over the running thing by now) and things seemed to be looking up when what did we see on the horizon but THE CROSS COUNTRY TEAM!  If we'd have known where we were going, we should have been back at school 30 minutes ago.  The humiliation of being lost, along with the humiliation of being kicked out of a practice that half of us didn't even want to go to, was way too much to handle.  So we did what any logical twosome of wet, humiliated, tired girls would do- we ran off the path and hid behind a group of trees.  And waited.  And promised we'd never tell anyone about this, ever.

Eventually, the cross country team disappeared somewhere, a Halloween miracle. After a mile or so of walking which felt like 234873 years, we made it back to school - after the cross country team.  And that was a little embarrassing. 

Part 2
It gets better.  I don't have much to say about the rest of the night, except that these were our Halloween costumes. 

And one of us may have been falsely accused of dressing up as a Muslim for Halloween (can't imagine why) and given several disapproving looks. 

Sharing my sworn secrets with you all because of Blog Everyday in July with Juliette, Faith, and Allie. 

Love, 

Allie

P.S. Marie and Elise are not my friend's real names, because they would murder me if they knew I had told the whole Internet about their parts in this story, and I like them too much to get them locked up for the rest of their lives.

P.P.S. Elise and I have nicknamed October 31, 2012 "the coolest day of our lives," and that's all we tell anyone about it.