A large part of keeping sane during this
process is running. Running and
eating cheese (have you ever had Cabot’s Habanero Cheddar on whole grain
Wasa? Enough to make you momentarily
forget that the highlight of your day is eating cheddar on Swedish made hippie bread because
you HAVE NO JOB).
For the past two years or so I have been
a lazy, foolish, injured runner.
I’ve had strains and pulls and stress fractures. I’ve let my pace slow to something
between adorable sloth and venomous slow loris (I googled this so you didn't have to. You're welcome). With so much time on my hands, I’ve decided to rectify that
situation.
 |
| David Haring / Duke Lemur Center |
My next race is a half marathon in
Goteborg, Sweden in May and its imperative that I beat my friends, who happen
to be Swedish man twins. Despite
the fact that I am older and of the female persuasion, I think I have a decent
chance of reducing them to quivering masses of smorgas, meatballs, brown Norwegian cheese,
beer and horsemeat (this is the staple of any nice Swedish boy's diet).
In order to overcome their fancy
socialized medicine, fantastic diet and clear physiological advantages, I will
have to train properly. So, I’ve
spent the past two weeks checking out (free!) running groups in the DC area as
a means of kick starting my motivation.
I joined DC Capital Striders on Meetup and tried their Thursday group (it was
super nice). My Thursdays are now tied up so I am looking into trying them out another day.
As of now, I have two regular groups now
that are both run out of stores: Lululemon and Fleet Feet.
Lululemon,
Monday Nights. This is where I admit that I do not own
a single piece of Lululemon gear. I’ve been in the store, I have friends who
swear by their clothes. I am sure
they make great stuff and it looks really nice. However, I probably won’t buy it in the future unless I make
a friend with an employee discount because:
1) Even employed, I’m too cheap to spend $90
on a pair of yoga pants. That might be because although I did practice yoga in
Portland, it was to address my terrible inflexibility and to stave off
running injuries. If I were
serious about yoga I might invest the money (like I do with running shoes. They are the only thing for which I will pay
full price with no quibbling or inner debate).
2) I distrust non-running companies that
make running clothes. I am sure
this is some type of elitist snobbery.
Then again, maybe marketers are doing their jobs and I have awesome
brand loyalty. In any case, Nike,
New Balance, Brooks, Asics, etc generally make my socks, shoes, shorts and
jackets. I admit to having a
lot of Nike gear because of Green Mountain Running Camp and all of those trips
to the Employee Store (50% off!) when I lived in Portland. However, I think a lot of it stems from
experience. I have Nike and Adidas
shorts from high school that have held up 15 years later. I’d also rather shell
out $90 on a pair of Sporthill tights recommended to me by a running friend
than $110 on a pair by Lululemon.
I’m paying $20 for the branding and if I had $20 to throw away, I would
throw it away on FOOD (at Whole Foods on cheese ends, those bright green olives
in the olive bar and at least half a dozen cookies in the cookie bar...).
3) Lululemon is pretty body conscious
clothing and please believe me when I say I could give three effs about what my
body looks like when I am running.* I just want to be comfortable and
noticeable so cars do not hit me and deer do not collide with me. I am not a
cute runner anyway. I sweat, drip, spit, breath loudly etc. I laugh at "Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me" and frequently go "NO WAY" during "Savage LoveCast"... both make me look certifiable. I don’t fault people who want to look
nice, sane and color coordinated, I’m just not one of them.
So, Lululemon’s running club was good
enough for government work (sorry Fed/State friends...its just an expression!),
which is to say:
1.
Stereotypical. Dudes who have to be in front? Check.
Woman with a face full of makeup, a tank top and shorts in 40 degree weather?
Check. Cliques on a high school
level? Check. Thankfully for me, I view this Lululemon group running thing like
a reality star villain: I am not here to make friends ok? This is a
competition! I’m just using you to get fast. No, I don’t want to have a beer after the run. I am poor and sweaty and getting cold! Who stole my Wasa bread?!
2. Motivating. My first run, I wound up behind one of the aforementioned dudes
after a while and it was exhilarating to draft off of him until the end of the
run. For some reason, I run a LOT
faster when I am with a group of people.
At LL, I am probably that obnoxious chick pushing the pace but that’s
just because running with a group perks up my flaccid competitive
impulses. LL is my running Cialis.
3. Convenient. It meets Mondays at 6:30 and is a mere 1.3 miles from my
apartment so I run there. We stash
our coats in one of the dressing rooms so it should still be convenient when I
get a job.
Fleet
Feet, Wednesday Nights. As much as I am disinclined to
buy LL gear, I am inclined to buy running shoes from running stores. I like it when I can take shoes for a spin
outside. I like it when a clerk
can look at my stride and my feet and tell me which pair shows less pronation. I also inevitably end up choosing the
most expensive shoe I try on and google shopping never shows much of a
discount. I will definitely buy my
next pair of shoes (bound to be $100+) at Fleet Feet when I get a j-o-b or an
aspartame daddy.
Every Wednesday Night, Fleet Feet has a
ladies night. Thus, all of the runners are women. Like Ann Romney, "I LOVE YOU WOMENNNNNNNN" so this is cool for me. Practical benefits include giving us little pieces of paper with the route instructions, permitting us to stash our stuff in the store and making water available for free.
The employees and other runners are genuinely
nice. They acted as if they’d like
to get to know me (GASP) and they remembered my name. Its almost like being back in Portland! I tend to relax a little more here and
go with an easier pace. There is
not much more to say here because running with the Fleet Feet ladies is just
one of those nice, low maintenance experiences.
---
I hope that running on the regular with
groups twice a week improves my conditioning and that gradually increasing my
mileage stops those overuse issues I am prone to…. Hopefully, when I get a job I can keep this up. I admit that even after all of these
years (17 and counting) it is SO much easier to commit to a run when you know
other people will be there.
*I admit to being a hypocrite re: looking awesome in running clothes when it
comes to these tights. I saw them
and wanted them instantly. Of
course, so did everyone else. Bah!
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