Sunday– October 2 2005
Training: Long Run, 75 mins
Where: towards Frutigen
Quotes: "Oh man. The WORST kind of weather for a runner is cold, rainy, windy, wet, and nasty when you get soaked and frozen to the bone…and then there are those puddles,those damn huge puddles that take up the whole path and there is nothing you can do but go straight through them…and you canTRY to run through it real hard on your toes…but then it gets too deep and you just say F it, and by F it, of course I mean forget it…and you just let yourself run normal…and then your shoes are just soaked all the way through and get really heavy and then your shoes start squeaking…and then when your toes finally gain feeling back you have to go through another damn puddle……then you arrive home and can barely untie your shoelaces because your fingers are numb and you have to get someone to help you….and then when you get in the shower and put the temperature to where you normally have it, it burns your skin…so then you have to turn the temperature down until the water is pretty much cold but still feels hot on your skin….and then!!! when you go to shampoo your hair, you can't even move your fingers and they start hurting under the water because your hands are freezing and it feels like boiling water is being poured over them………Oh man, but not going out on a run on a day like today is not an option…Because this is TOUGHNESS baby!" -My long rant of course.
NUTS, WHACKO, CRAZY, NOT 100%…WHAT ARE YOU THINKING
Oh man, I LOVE it when people make me feel more nuts than I really am, or feel. Today, I swear it wasn't even THAT bad, but I went on my long run and it was just ugly outside…like I said…the worst kind of weather for a runner….The rain was relentless today on my run…It was just one of those steady down-pours where it doesn't get better or worse on your run, it just pours the whole time….ANYWAY; so I decided I love it when people make me feel crazy. I ran by some people today, an older couple, and they had umbrellas and parkas on (it was't even that cold people, come on 46F, 8C…)but anyway, I ran by them and I could hear them talking to each other and saying that I was nuts…Then twenty five minutes after passing them I had to turn around and come back so of course I passed them again…so the dude yells at me "make sure you don't catch a cold…" What the hell do I say to that? "uumm, thanks sir…you too...????" It was funny because I was just doing what I do…Running. I didn't think it was crazy to go out and run… But then when these people are questioning me I ask myself…"Am I really nuts? I feel normal…I look pretty normal (I think)…I must be normal." It is just funny because after I passed them, another lady (30s probably) was running towards me going in the opposite direction and when she ran passed, we both just smiled real big and said an informal hello. (For those of you who are linguistically challenged…You have to use a formal greeting for strangers or older people and an informal one to friends and people your own age). So here we were, two complete strangers running along and basically said, "what's up" as we ran by each other…Then I didn't feel crazy…She probably didn't feel as crazy either…hahaha….We both had this respect for each other and as we passed each other, it is like we gave each other props and respect for the other being out there…It is weird to explain…but I feel like we knew what the other was thinking…Like yeah, it is ugly out here, but I have so much respect for you because you are out here running in it too…You make me feel less crazy than these other people out here…We are supposed to be doing this…(And yes, today wasn't that crazy…but still…to NORMAL people it was crazy to run out here in this weather…). For us, us distance runners, it is just another day of pounding the ground…just another training day…just what we HAVE to do…Like I said, taking off was definitely not an option….it didn't even come to my head. As I walked out the door and was putting my shoes on I was like "oh crap, it is going to be a cold one" instead of having a second thought of "I am going back to my nice, warm bed…" Just pounding that ground…hitting that mileage….Doing what it is we distance runners do…Run…Run far…in any weather… HELL YEAH. I like it when people make me feel nuts because then it makes me feel like a normal distance runner…
NOTE: I will be in and out for this month until I get my lap top since I will be sleeping in my new apartment tomorrow. I'll be around!!!!
NEXT: October 3, 4, 5 – Let's just try another 2k...
PREVIOUS: October 1 – Moving Day. Gotta be patient.
INDEX: Unfinished Business -- Former PA XC state champion Josi Lauber's post-collegiate adventure.