Exercising My Right To Vote

My polling place is at the edge of my neighborhood, along a road I run along. Yesterday I got the idea that I could run my 4 mile loop, stop to vote, and run home. Last night I verified that polls open at 6:00 am, put my ID out with my running stuff, and tried to get to bed early so the snooze button wouldn’t disenfranchise me.

It was cold out this morning–in the 30s–and totally dark @ 5:30 when I headed out, but my neighborhood roads are pretty well lit. I had to find a fuzzy head band to keep my ears warm, my lightweight running gloves, and my awesome lightweight Asics jacket. It didn’t feel too bad outside, but I cut my walking warm-up short so I could start running.

It was a good run. Nothing hurt, ached or twinged–my ITB didn’t even feel tight–my pace was steady at about 10:00 min/mile, and I was dressed perfectly–not cold but not too warm. I felt strong on the hills and steady on the flat stretches.

I hit mile 4.0 about 1/4 mile before my polling place, and kept running up to the entrance. By then it was about 6:15, and there were a few other voters coming and going, but no real wait to vote. I was a bit disappointed that I only had one person to vote for (Congressman) and now understand why mid-term elections have such low voter turn-out. Still, I have been a faithful voter since I turned 18 and had no reason to miss voting today, especially when I could make exercising my right to vote part of my exercise program.