Baton woes

A Baton, according to Merriam-Webster is: a hollow cylinder carried by each member of a relay team and passed to the succeeding runner
A Baton, according to Helen, is the bane of my existence. Allow me to back track a little. When I was younger I used to have this terrible habit of dropping things and not realizing I did it. It's how I lost a couple of wallets. So now that I'm older and compulsive I've tried to make up for that and am constantly checking to make sure I have all my belongings. Of course I also carry a purse now so I won't have to worry about dropping something accidentally and not realizing it. This translates into hating to have things in my hands when I'm running. It throws off my entire sense of balance and all I can do is think about whatever I'm holding. Which is why during Beach to Bay I dropped the baton, not once, not twice, but FIVE times. I have a bruise to show for it. The last time it bounced up, hit my shin and I stopped, let out a loud expletive (sorry parents reading this) stomped over to the baton and walked for about 100 steps in disgust. If I was about 5 years younger I would have sat on the curb and had a fit. As it was I threw a pretty big fit anyway.
I did manage to finish in less than 48 minutes which was all I hoped for. Of course if I could have kept up my awesome pace for the whole time I would have finished in closer to 40 minutes, but I'll take 48 for this slow going time in my running phase.
I am glad I did the run though. It was nice to be in a big mix of runners, crossing a finish line, having someone hand you six medals (yes, I got all the medals for my team and none of them were at the finish festivities, so I have yet to hand those out) and just be in a race environment. It was good for my soles (haha, get it, soles?)
I do however feel like I'm back on track. Having someone to run with is very helpful. I've peer pressured Marissa Villa, one my friends and co-workers (yes, we're friends too--sorry that's an inside joke) into running the half marathon in the fall. I think it probably scares her more than I know, but I've promised I'll be there every step of the way for her. We did our first run together today. 3 miles in about 36 minutes. Not bad considering we were doing 3-2 intervals and I had to walk an extra time because I felt like the humidity was suffocating me.
In truth I thought about giving up running for a while. I spent 5 days at home in New Mexico during which I played tennis with my sister and had a really good time. I was sore in all the right places the next morning and though "hmmm, maybe I could join a tennis league, swim and do my cardio boxing this summer and forget running." Of course I'm already committed to helping two marathon teams (and I'm no quitter) and I've promised my friend I'd get her to the finish line. I can't let her down.
I'm doing this for her, right? In actuality I feel like Marissa's doing something great for me. Getting me back on the roads and enjoying it. Even if I am breathing harder than I'd like to :)