Arun is Bringing You...Your Daily Remedy

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Relay For Life

I woke up dazed, confused, and exhausted. I had no idea where I was, what time it was, and why it was so damn bright outside.

It all started a few months ago, when I committed to joining my friend Mern's, Relay For Life Team. Relay For Life is basically a 24 hour event that goes on every year in different cities, to raise money for the fight against cancer. The theme is basically, "cancer doesn't sleep, and neither do we." The day consists of various activities and games, with all meals donated from different restaurants. There are a couple of very touching tributes to cancer survivors and to those who have passed. The main goal of the event is to have at least one person (or in our case, five)from your team on the "walking track" at all times for the whole 24 hours.

I participated last year and had a lot of fun, but didn't end up staying for the whole thing. I succumbed to Saturday night temptations and the comfort of my bed. This year, my goal was to stick out the whole 24 hours! How hard could it be?

So Saturday morning rolls around and I wake up early feeling nice and refreshed! I decided that since I'm going to be missing my Saturday afternoon basketball, I'll go get a run in before heading to the event. I got a nice 7 miler in, and went downtown to the beautiful Embarcadero, ready to walk, play games, eat good food, fight cancer, and hang out!

I am awesome!

The whole day was great. I dominated the "balloon toss" event, finishing second (we should've won first but the other team had some kind of ultra-indestructible super balloon!), and our team spirit was amazing!

I am still awesome!

I succumbed to the pressure though in The bubble gum blowing contest and crashed out with some disappointing blows. This however was not my fault as I refuse to believe that "Double Bubble" is regulation bubble blowing gum. Everyone knows that Double Bubble starts get jaw-achingly hard within seconds of chewing and becomes nearly unblowable! Give me some Bubblicious or Bubble Yum and I'll show YOU some real bubble blowing ability!

Lost some awesomeness points, but we all know it's the fault of a certain cheap bubble gum.

Everything was hunky-dorie until night started to fall. Once the sun went down, I started to get sleepy and my legs were feeling the punishment of playing football and walking all day. Me, being the incredibly astute planner that I am, brilliantly decided to run that morning which made everything doubly worse. I was dragging my feet on the track and my enthusiasm was weening.

Awesome Arun had left the building.

I thought the 1:00am game of basketball and the 2:00am making of smores would rejuvenate me, but I was wrong. I glanced at the track, and it was baron. Our team had a couple of people walking, but a lot of others had scurried into their tents to sleep. There was no way we were going to suffer the same fate!

The worst was the 1-5 am stretch. It's dark, I'm tired and sore, and there are still NINE hours left! I was soooo tempted to go home, shower, and come back, but I knew if I even saw my bed, I'd be tempted to "test it out."

At one point I tried to get some sleep and actually drifted off for a few minutes, but when my friend Lillian came over to cover me up and take off my shoes, it woke me up and I couldn't really fall back asleep! So instead of lying there, I rejoined some of our people on the track.

When the sun finally came up, it felt amazingly rejuvenating! Dawn is easily my favorite time of the day, and I just love the crisp morning air! My enthusiasm was back, and my walking pace increased! They even had a yoga instructor come that morning to do some stretching and poses with us!

I am awesome!

When the event finally wrapped, we all went to breakfast. Everyone was ordering up Mimosas and Beer, but I was trying to be a good little guy, and was innocently sipping my OJ. But, when someone suggested going to Dick's Last Resort for the Sunday Beer special, I could resist.

One round became two, which became three, which became trouble. By Sunday afternoon, we were all deliriously exhausted and a little drunk. We trooped over to Mern's condo downtown and proceeded to belt out crazy Karaoke.

I dominated Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody"

Eventually, our temporary high from the morning + booze started to wear off, and people started crashing. Mern's roommate Brad somehow fell asleep on the hard wood floor with his head nestled between Mern's nightstand and his bed. I took full advantage and snagged Brad's bed.

Some time later (I had no concept of time on this day, but it was probably about an hour) I woke up dazed, confused, and exhausted. I had no idea where I was, what time it was, and why it was so damn bright outside.

I gathered my things and exhaustingly stumbled 1.5 miles through crowds of downtown people under the bright sun, to my car. When I got home, I think it was about 4:30pm, but I didn't really want to sleep and screw up my sleep schedule. I tried surfing the net, but I couldn't focus.

"Ok, I'll just take a 20 minute power nap, then I'll be ok." I blinked my eyes, and the clock went from 5:00 to 11:00. Actually, when I woke up, I had no idea what time it was. I wasn't sure if it was the same day, middle of the night, or the next day. I think everyone's had one of those confusingly long naps.

Is six hours considered a "power nap?" I was pissed because I thought I'd screwed up my sleep cycle by sleeping too long!

I decided to watch some Olympics, but despite my six hours of rest, I still couldn't stay awake! Screw it...Sleep Schedule be Damned...I'm going to bed! Apparently I needed it because I was out until Monday morning.

Overall, it was super fun, but yes, incredibly exhausting. Naturally, I've decided to probably be on the Relay for Life Committee next year! As a chairperson, I'm already committing to making some drastic changes! I will be adding the following events: A dance off, a karaoke contest, and a walkoff. (I plan on winning the "Relay for Life Triple Crown of Awesomeness").

Oh, and I'm buying some damn Bubble Yum for the bubble blowing contest.

1 comment:

Bubblegum. It's Greatest Website EVER! said...

Interesting bubble blowing comments you have there.

You don't have to wait for the next bubble blowing contest, because the greatest is here right now. The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, where you can win the world championship of bubble blowing!

So gather your talents and COME ON DOWN!

Bobby "BOOM BOOM" Bickerson
Commissioner
The BUBBLEGUM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP