Monday, August 25, 2008

Running Update: Look right at me - telling the truth.

Once in a while I don't lie.

Don't ask me if your butt looks big in those pants or anything, because I'm still the same shameful liar deep down, but when I promised to try to not die while running, I was telling the truth.

You see, last Saturday I was scheduled to do my first 10 mile training run and, conveniently (hate you Weather Man) it was also predicted to be in the mid 90s.

Yippee. Whippy. Whippy.

Now, hearkening back to the dark days of May, when I became suicidal and ran 9 miles in 95 degree weather thus giving myself a stunning case of heatstroke, I made the wise and uncharacteristic decision to get up early this Saturday...

*moment of silence for the significance of this decision*

...and run 10 miles in the early and presumed cooler hours of the morning rather than at 8am when the sun was up and looking for dewy flesh to scorch the shit out of.

And due to some miraculous occurrence, I walked out onto our front porch Saturday morning at 6am to find that it was 54 degrees and, GASP, foggy.

Oh, so that's why everyone runs early on the weekends. I see...

I had new squishy soft insoles in my shoes. I had an hour+ of new tunes on my iPod which was miraculously charged and functioning fully. I was wearing my freshly clean does-not-strangle-me-yet-provides-ample-support sportsbra. And - YES - it was cool outside.

I didn't even have to put my sunglasses on because it was, like, a little bit dark still.

If there were a better morning to get cracking on my 10 mile training run, this had to be it.

And then paranoia set in. I was pretty sure that all this perfect juju meant I was going to meet a horrible fate. Because, obviously, I'm being lured out into the wee hours of Saturday to witness or be involved in the worst event to befall human history.

Right? I mean, that is my luck after all isn't it? It's not just that I can be really pessimistic when I want to go back to bed or anything, no.

Anyway, in surprise twist of luck - nothing awful happened. I did not get bitten by a dog. My iPod didn't spontaneously combust. I wasn't even almost hit by any cars, which, in my life is mostly unheard of. I also managed to do it at about 10.5 minute/mile pace and my knees didn't immediately snap and cry out in pain, which was probably the most significant point of it all.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm really glad I finally ran the 10 miler because it was haunting me that I hadn't done it yet and I am becoming aware of the fast approaching race date and I also I was afraid I'd die or at least publicly shame myself and we all know how much I hate that.

So - RELIEF.

I ran the 10 miler. It wasn't horrible. Nothing awful happened. And to reward myself, I'm going to try to not imagine getting squooshed under the recycling truck as he backs out of Starbucks without checking his mirrors.

11 comments:

  1. damn girl. I am always impressed by runners. You know, I'm not sure I'd run even if a bear was chasing me. But sometimes, when I'm on the elliptical machine going really fast, I pretend that I'm running and I think that maybe I could do it.

    So way to go with your bad self. Are you going to do it again?

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  2. Of course, I want to know about the playlist! :)

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  3. Finny rules.

    Cool, almost-rainy weather is most definitely the best running weather. I used to run a lot in Tucson, and running Tucson in the summer, even if you get up early, is a special kind of torture, what with the copious amount of sunscreen and sweat. The combination of the two, plus the absolutely BRUTAL sun of course, always made my skin feel like it was being eaten by acid.

    But I don't run anymore (except to chase those damn sheep), so I no longer have these problems.

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  4. Congrats Ms. Finny. I'm always impressed by runners -- you might need to change your blog name to Finny Knits and Runs.

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  5. Congrats!
    I'm fresh out of high school (well, 4 years now) and still can't even run 1 mile like they required me to do every year.

    I'm jealous.

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  6. Eliz - If a bear were chasing me, I'd be too busy shitting myself to run. No, I prefer to run when nothing's chasing me except my fat ass ;)

    I'll be doing it all again every Saturday until 10/5 when I'll run the half marathon and then sit on my butt for the month of October. WOO!

    Sara - Sure - the new additions were:
    Pain: Jimmy Eat World
    Sultan: What Made Milwaukee Famous
    Shadow of the Day: Linkin Park
    Rescue Me: Hawthorne Heights
    Album: My Chemical Romance
    Teen Lovers: The Virgins
    Viva la Vida: Coldplay (I'm so ashamed of myself)
    Lucid Dreams: Franz Ferdinand
    Take Me Out: Franz Ferdinand
    Album: Weezer
    Album: The Kooks
    Album: The Spill Canvas
    Album: Alkaline Trio
    Album: Story of the Year

    Kristin - If I still lived in AZ (and we already established this weird connection) I would never have started running. TOO HOT. BASTARD SUN. Etc.

    Thimble - I'll at least have to take the "Knits" part off unless I plan to knit something real soon.

    David - Thank you!

    Stef - Um, I couldn't either when I started this a few years ago. Making it up to 3 miles was the hardest thing ever. I literally remembered myself saying, "I don't run. It's just not something I do."

    Surprise. Surprise.

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  7. So why are we friends again?

    You cook, I take out.
    You run, I nap.
    You grow things, I kill every plant I've ever had.
    You kint/sew/craft, I ball up paper napkins and then try to figure out what they look like.
    You have a very "hip" playlist, I have a collection of music by world artists nobody has ever heard of.

    So we're friends, why? Oh yeah....we're both seriously cool, that's why.

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  8. As soon as you said it was a little dark outside, I imagined all SORTS of evil lurking man-scum.

    See? I go there too.

    Glad you're safe!!

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  9. Congratulations! A 10-miler! You're in the big league now!

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  10. Well done, you! I applaud you most riotously from my couch.

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[2013 update: You can't comment as an anonymous person anymore. Too many douchebags were leaving bullshit SPAM comments and my inbox was getting flooded, but if you're here to comment in a real way like a real person, go to it.]

Look at you commenting, that's fun.

So, here's the thing with commenting, unless you have an email address associated with your own profile, your comment will still post, but I won't have an email address with which to reply to you personally.

Sucks, right?

Anyway, to remedy this, I usually come back to my posts and post replies in the comment field with you.

But, if you ever want to email me directly to talk about pumpkins or shoes or what it's like to spend a good part of your day Swiffering - shoot me an email to finnyknitsATgmailDOTcom.

Cheers.