Running and then blogging about it
Running 3

Something I Hate

By Colleen @colleenalicia · On April 5, 2011

As much as I love running, there are a few things I don’t like about it. I only plan on talking about one of these things, but I know some people love bullet points, so here’s a few of them:

  • Cute running clothes are expensive.
  • Running too much often leads to injuries which prevent me from doing more running – things like watching too much TV never prevents me from watching more TV (which is why we all love TV).
  • When you’re out running, there’s no good way to advertise how long of a run you’re on.

Right now I want to focus on the last bullet point. The fact that I can be on mile 49 of a 50 mile run and not a single person who sees me know this frustrates me to no end. Of course I’ve never gone on a 50 mile run, but surely if I had, at mile 49 I would have looked/felt like I was very close to death. The uninformed observer would see me struggling to maintain a heartbeat and finish my run at the same time, and probably make the incorrect assumption that I was terribly out of shape and had no business running, instead of rightly knowing that I was actually doing something really awesome that they could never even dream of doing.

I guess at this point I should mention that the only reason I run is to brag about it and impress people. I have a whole blog about running so this should be obvious, but I mention it anyway just to emphasize how frustrating this issue is for me.

This problem came to the forefront of my mind on Friday, when I went to run on Leif Erickson. Normally I love running on Leif, because the mile markers solve this problem for me. There’s no way of knowing how far somebody’s running around mile 1, but once you’re out around mile 6 or 7 you’re welcome to exchange knowing smiles with the other runners that you pass by, because it’s clear by how far out you are that you’re on a badass run and are a generally impressive person. The first time I ever ran 17 miles, I was doubly-rewarded: not only did people get to see what a great runner I was out near mile 6, but upon completing the run, a man started chatting with me and asked how far I went on Leif, and I got to proudly announce that it was 17 miles. But other runners rarely stop you after a run to ask you how long you went, so it’s important they know some other way. Usually they don’t though, and this upsets me.

So on Friday I set off to run on Leif Erickson. I wanted to do a 10 mile run there, but since I sold my car I couldn’t drive there, and since I wanted to bring Pascal I couldn’t bike there. I’d have to run 3 miles there and back, leaving just 4 miles to do on the trail – just 2 miles one way. This sounded like a fun plan, until I actually got to the trail and started running, and realized I looked like just some chump going out for a tiny jog. Worse, when I was running back down to the trail head, this woman I had passed earlier started considerably picking up the pace to give her run a strong finish. Normally I do the same, but at that point I still had 3 miles to go so I didn’t want to burn myself out. Instead I had to keep running at my regular pace and look like some asshole who can’t even run fast at the end. All I could do was hope that she would get in her car and see me continuing my run as she drove away.

The only thing I can really think of to fix this huge problem is for Nike to invent some kind of t-shirt that has a digital display that’s linked to Nike+, showing everyone around you what distance you’ve run, and how much further you intend to go. If you have a better idea, please let me know. I’m desperate for a solution that lets people know how great I am for as much of the time as possible.

Leif Erickson TrailStupid Things
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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.

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3 Comments

  • Kate says: April 5, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    You should just tell everyone you see how many miles you’ve run and how many you have to go. By “tell” I mean you should shout at them.

    Reply
  • Kathayoon says: April 6, 2011 at 4:48 am

    your “tiny jog” is about how far i can run right now without dying. you may be saying “oh but that’s okay,” but that brings me to my next point: that i want to run a half marathon next october. let’s talk about this sometime.

    you could have someone drive or ride a bike along next to you yelling things like “i can’t believe we’ve gone 10 miles! only 10 to go!” and “hey everyone look at colleen and how awesome she is!!”

    Reply
  • Chris says: April 7, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    i had the same thought as kathayoon. also, isn’t this partially why people run marathons and such? so you can be like, yeah, bitch, i did that.

    Reply
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    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.

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