Running and then blogging about it
Running 4

Fast Times at 24 Hour Fitness

By Colleen @colleenalicia · On January 17, 2010

I’m still on track, though barely. Maybe at some point I’ll start planning out my runs for the week so I don’t find myself at the gym Saturday night trying to make it to 25. I even had this crazy idea that maybe I would exceed 25 this week. Not even close, but maybe next time.

Tonight’s jaunt on the treadmill was particularly painful. This wasn’t a physical pain, but the semi-self-induced pain caused by accidentally getting on the treadmill right in front of the television playing America’s Most Wanted and then refusing to switch to a different machine (I really don’t like resetting my workout because I enjoy having accurate records of how far I’ve gone right in front of me the whole time). I could kind of avoid the tv, but it’s positioning made it hard not to watch. So I had to see the perturbing story of the NorCal rapist for twenty minutes, which isn’t what I wanted to be thinking about right then. Or ever, really. Especially since he hasn’t been caught (apparently that’s the idea behind America’s Most Wanted). Also NorCal is way too close to Portland for me to feel comfortable with this situation. I also learned about a bus driver who almost saved a baby’s life but didn’t, and a bride who got shot in the leg at her bachelorette party and then had to be carried down the aisle by her dad.

About halfway through my workout some lady came in and got on the elliptical in front of me. I thought that she had forgotten her workout clothes, but as she came nearer I discovered that she was just wearing workout clothes disguised as normal clothes. Her pants looked like normal green corduroys, but were actually velour. I’m still not sure I would classify velour as a workout-clothes material, but I’ll let it slide. I forgot about all of this when she started using the elliptical though; she had the worst elliptical machine technique I’ve ever seen.

I’m trying to think of a way to talk about this without sounding like a huge asshole, but I’m really at a loss. However, this is one of the primary things that consume my mind when I’m running or working out around other people, so I can’t help but mention it: I constantly critique the running form of everyone around me. That is, if it’s bad. I honestly don’t pay attention when it’s good, but if it reaches a certain level of awful-ness I start getting really upset and annoyed, but also a tiny bit happy that I have something interesting to think about while I run. I get especially mad if I notice horrible form on someone who’s ahead of me in a race, because that means that even despite their gross inefficiencies they’re still faster than me.

How good is my running form? I have no idea. That doesn’t come into play during any of these thoughts I have about other people’s form. Watching other people run poorly makes me think of all the overuse injuries they’re going to get and how bad it is for them and how much faster they could be if they would stop running like that, and that’s frustrating to me. Like this girl in the velour pants had to be putting incredible strain on her knees. With every gauche step (or elliptical step-equivalent, I don’t know what that would be) her knees would take a huge lateral dive inward while her hips swung out a good half a foot. Then she started going in reverse and things got way worse, and I went back to watching America’s Most Wanted.

I really ought to start running outside more.

Miles run this week: 25
Miles run in 2010: 50

America's Most WantedRunning FormVelour
Share Tweet

Colleen

I must confess, I started running at a very early age. Sadly, my runs were unblogumented until around age 23, so you'll have to use your imagination for all the runs I went on before that. Running has always been my go-to sport, but sadly, I spend a good amount of my time with chronic injuries. I have learned to entertain myself athletically with other pursuits such as kettlebell, yoga, and bikini competitions, when I can't run. In addition to my unique talent for working out and then blogging about it, I am an amateur puppy stylist and photographer, television enthusiast, and I'm usually CPR/AED certified, but I would still prefer if you didn't pass out when we're together.

You Might Also Like

  • Running

    Downtown Running

  • Running

    Have a Good Halloween Run!

  • Running

    Things That Get In My Way

4 Comments

  • Murvee says: January 18, 2010 at 1:12 pm

    i believe it is either perturbing or gauche. i have never heard of the word gauche, so my final answer is gauche.

    Reply
  • colleen says: January 18, 2010 at 6:55 pm

    gauche – adj. clumsy; course and uncouth.

    and now you know!

    Reply
  • Ezra says: January 18, 2010 at 7:46 pm

    Also French for left. Because one hand is the evil hand.

    Reply
  • Wayniac says: January 21, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    I won’t talk about which hand is used for what, but it is French for left because of the left bank in Paris and its reputation, or was its reputation.

    I love this writing and I don’t even run except when I’m being chased, and even then it’s more than 25 a week! I could read a whole book of this, about a subject I could care less about. How about some thoughts on burrito’s! ?

    Reply
  • Leave a reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    About Me

    I’m Colleen. I started this blog when I was 23 years old and training for my first marathon. I was single, semi-employed, generally directionless in life, and had a lot of free time on my hands. I have a lot less free time now, but I still love to come here and dump my rambling, unedited thoughts after a workout or race once in a while.

    Older Posts

    January 2010
    M T W T F S S
     123
    45678910
    11121314151617
    18192021222324
    25262728293031
        Feb »

    © 2019 Colleen Clancy. All rights reserved.