Friday, February 1, 2008

Random Friday Musings

On Wednesday I was going to go running after I got home from work because I’d been up late the previous night and elected ‘the pillow’ over ‘the morning run.’ Balloting was done by snooze button. Final vote: Pillow 9 – Morning Run 0. When I got home from work it was below freezing outside and I had already made up my mind that I was going to run on the treadmill. I was only scheduled for an easy 4 miler and I was in no mood to be cold. Then something happened.

It began snowing. All of a sudden I knew I needed to be out running in it. I don’t know why I needed to, I just did. Maybe because I knew it would make me look hardcore, maybe just to show the weather that I wasn’t scared of it. Does anyone else ever get motivated to go running because of worse weather? Maybe this is one of the addictions that I should have warned new runners about.


For those of you who are less observant, I’ve added a Shave Your 5K tab at the top of the page. Right now it just links to the Shave Your 5K post but pretty soon it will link to a table of everyone’s stubble times so that you can see how they’re doing. I’ll have some more announcements about this in the next week or two.

I went running this morning and almost forgot to put on something reflective. It would have been tragically ironic if I’d have been hit by a car after my post on Wednesday, not to mention the hassle it would have caused some poor motorist. Alanis Morissette could have written a song about it.

16 comments:

  1. there are times when i think it'd be great to run while it's snowing, but then i remember that not ever having to deal with snow is pretty great too.
    i was looking to enter a 5k this week with the time making my entry for the shave your 5k, but it has sold out and i'm left out.

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  2. Ohhh thanks Vanilla, now I have that song stuck in my head. Bleck! LOL

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  3. Yes, I've been known to lace up my shoes when it starts to snow or sleet, because running in those conditions makes the beautiful days seem that much better. Plus, fewer cars on the road to hit me :)

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  4. I am a sucker for running in adverse conditions. I become disappointed when the forecast calls for rain and the morning turns out to be clear blue skies (what a jip!) I think that along with feeling like a total bad-ass there is this great sense of adventure while running in bad conditions (something like an Indiana Jones syndrome). I tend to have my best form and over-all best runs in wonderfully nasty weather.

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  5. I have a really stupid question that you can just tell me to "piss off, look it up" if you guys want... but what do you do when you live in a neighbourhood in which no one shovels the walks/drives in anything more than a half-a$$ed manner and where used to be cushy lawn there are snow drifts up to the kneecaps? I never see anyone running around here so I always assumed it was too dangerous to run on slippery walks.

    Do people actually do run on irregular icy terrain?

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  6. Chia – piss off, look it up! Sorry, but you were asking for it. Icy conditions are tough to run in, but I find I’m OK running on fresh snow or packed snow. You have to be a little more careful than usual and therefore you should expect a slightly slower time but it’s doable. Sometimes in the early morning I’ll run in the street too, since there’s less traffic and it’s usually clearer.

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  7. i'm with you on rough weather. ANYONE can run when it's nice, right? it brings the kid out in us. nothing like coming home after a trail run in the rain and having your mother ... erm ... i mean wife yell at you for tracking mud through the house!

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  8. Thanks guys! This prompts yet another question tho: Is there a socially acceptable hand gesture to demonstrate common disgust at the miserable "anti-runner-drivers" that proceed to yell at people running in the street? Last time I made way down the pavement, three people made the point to roll down the window and proceed to scream random variations "get off the road." Perhaps they saw "chubby chick having a coronary" and were afraid of it impeading thier ability to effectively make it to a drive through before the 10a.m. cut off for egg mcmuffins.

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  9. Chia, I think that you can find the appropriate hand gesture demonstrated in this old post.

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  10. My smile in these wintry conditions is because my face is too numb to do anything else.

    Chia, Vanilla's recommended hand gesture is perfectly acceptable response. I also find spitting to be appropriate. Running is not the only long-distance activity our increased lung capacity is good for.

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  11. I have to comment on this! Although my "goodie, miserable running weather, must head outside NOW" instinct doesn't kick in when snow's involved (too many tumbles on black ice), for some reason I love running just before/in/after thunderstorms. The muggy, blanket-like air, rivulets of sweat, imminent electrocution via iPod, and so on, really inspire me to slip on sneaks and head for the hills. Maybe it's because I had my first hardcore runner lady "Chariots of Fire" experience in that climate?

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  12. My pillow wins on way too many of those mornings.

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  13. Just wanted to add that I completely agree about wanting to run in the snow, and that we are totally crazy running bloggers. As they say in Mean Girls, "own it!"

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  14. I get the urge to run when it snows here. Unfortunately, the only two times it's snowed this year I was either at work or had already run. The one time I did get to run while it was snowing, there was something really cool (pun unintended) about running through the falling snow.

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  15. The weather lately in Ontario, Canada leaves little choice about running in the snow. But where two months ago, I LOATHED the thought of lacing up and running in the weather, recently I've come to enjoy it. Today I did 12.5miles (longest yet!) in a light snow, and it was fabulous!

    I've only been running about a year, and I am training now to run a marathon in late May. I'm a beginner runner, and a beginner blogger, but I'm finding that the blogging community offers SO MUCH advice and inspiration! Thanks!

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  16. It was almost a wasted opportunity to wear your uber-cool slap bands, which I continue to be jealous about.

    Isn't the universal signal for I-can-share-the-road-too-ass-wipe just the ol' middle finger?

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