Although I haven’t gushed or exclaimed my excitement over it, tomorrow is the second zombie run I’ll be participating in. Having done the one in Baltimore, I fully know what to expect this time around, and I kind of fear that I’m still a little ill-prepared physically for the event. Granted, I also know this time around not to blow myself up so early on, and to essentially not give a shit about time or survival; after all I’ve already done it before, so I’ve little else to prove. However, regardless of all the things I know to expect, I can’t help but still feel this sense of nerves and apprehension about the event as a whole.
The one positive difference in this is that I’ll have a sizeable number of compatriots in this go-around. Not to discount my boy cheetos the least bit, as he essentially prevented me from losing all my flags in Maryland, but that event was marred by the poor planning of the event as a whole, ill-preparedness, and the soiled notion that other friends were barred from participation due to the shitty traffic or shitty volunteer management. This time around, I’m traveling and running with four others, and hopefully there will be better event management in the Atlanta chapter than it was up in Maryland.
But I’m still feeling nervous about it as a whole. The weather down in Georgia has been shit, so it’s safe to assume that tomorrow will be about as horrendously muddy as it was in Maryland. The temperature probably won’t be in the 40s, but if it rains, then it’s still vastly worse.
I’ve basically already volunteered to forego my own survival to ensure that Jen makes it across the finish line with at least one flag. So while I will be doing my best to set picks and be a human meat shield, I can’t help but feel somewhat of a desire to try to survive myself. I know there are lots of zombies who will be fairly easy to get around, but throughout the duration of 3.2 miles and estimating 45 minutes, all it takes is three lucky and/or aggressive ones, and we’re “dead.” With shitty muddy conditions in play, that reduces chances to pull off some of the Calvin Johnson head fakes and crossover steps I used to get around some zombies, but also if I’m trying to be a distraction, such won’t be necessary.
Maybe I should just cheat, and hide a flag throughout the race. After all, if this is simulating a real zombie apocalypse, who wouldn’t go through any means necessary to ensure survival? Either way, nerves or no nerves, as much as I thought it wouldn’t be so a second time around, I’ll be the first to admit that the excitement is creeping back.
I mostly want to survive, just so I can wave two fingers up in victory like I’m Ernest “The Cat” Miller.
