Week One: Check

I started the new week out by sleeping all day and not running, but this is partly because I was hungover, and partly because my legs are insanely sore from completing week one of 25 miles, after two weeks of zero exercise. It almost didn’t happen – after my soccer game yesterday things were not looking good. But I couldn’t disappoint you, my dedicated readers, in the first week, so I had a quick snack of lifesavers and then took Pascal out to Terwilliger.

I’ve been running the same route on Terwilliger since high school. I start at the Chart House, go down for a lap around Duniway, and then come back up. It’s usually pretty fun because a lot of other people are always running/walking around there, and people from OHSU come out there to smoke. On my run yesterday I probably saw at least 15 people with their dogs. The highlight of my run was when this super comely guy came running from the opposite direction, with a dog that looked like a skinny version of Pascal. As we ran by each other we had a moment where we smiled and both thought about how cool our dogs are and how we should date each other. Unfortunately we were also both focused on our super intense run and getting a UHB, so we couldn’t stop to arrange our dating situation. He’ll probably read this though, so that will take care of things.

I used to take Pascal running with me because he needs the exercise. For Christmas I got Runner’s World Complete Book of Running, and it has a whole section on running safety for women, and tells me that I should run with a dog so I don’t get raped/murdered, so now running with Pascal serves a dual purpose. I’m also supposed to carry pepper spray, leave my ipod at home, and run in the early morning hours. I guess good things to think about, but I’m probably going to take none of that advice except the dog part. I’ll train Pascal to attack everyone he sees though, and that will take care of things. The book also has another section with a bunch of general tips for women. Some of them are appropriate and relevant, but then there’s a few that come off just a tad condescending, like:

• it doesn’t matter what any other person or any stopwatch says about your running
• a woman runner should consider herself an athlete, whether she’s fast or slow, tall or short, small or large
• trying to lose fat by eating less and running more and more doesn’t work
• just because you’re married and have young children and a job doesn’t mean that you don’t have time to run
• a run is a wonderful first date
• running doesn’t make your breasts sag or make your uterus collapse
• running can help produce healthy skin

Mostly I’m annoyed that they put things like “a run is a wonderful first date” in a special section just for women. They preface the list by saying that some of the tips can apply to men and women, but I think that if they really thought men should know these things, they wouldn’t hide them away in the women section. Also, the only other time I’ve heard reference to the issue of collapsing uteri was in My Life On the Run, the book written by someone who also works for Runner’s World. I’m pretty sure that they’re the only ones perpetuating the myth, just by bringing it up so often. However, even though I never thought that it could happen, it is comforting to know that no matter how much I run, my uterus won’t fall out.

6 days left to run 25 miles!

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