Filed under: Running
The Philadelphia Marathon is just around the corner and I will not be participating this year. At one point early in the summer, I really wanted to run it. As time slipped by, I thought about going for the half marathon. Then that got demoted to trying to be able to run over 10 consecutive miles on or near the race day, weather permitting. I will be very glad that I’m not running the marathon come 7:30 AM on November 22nd when I’m still fast asleep. But once 11:30 or so rolls around, I will be thinking that I should have taken a crack at it. Around that same time, I will probably give the 2010 marathon some strong consideration.
There were about three days over the course of this year that I gave the 2009 race some strong consideration. But it requires months strong consideration to pull it off.
Today I found myself thinking about what got in the way of staying interested in training. A few things came to mind right away. Running is hard and I don’t own any neon short shorts. Then another thought came rolling in: marathons are expensive. The Philly Marathon runs anywhere between 80 and 125 bucks depending on when you sign up. I consider this to be a lot of money to spend on the privilege of running down a few public streets, very early in the morning, on a day that is likely to have lousy weather. Unless I sell a fire alarm painting for a million dollars or the United States runs into some crazy Zimbabwe style hyper-inflation, $80 to $125 will still be a lot of money a year from now.
So once you are done thinking about how big of a cheapskate I am, continue reading and get prepared to have your mind blown.
It is not that the race costs a lot that kept me from signing up; it is that the race costs a lot and I didn’t pony up the cash right away. If running the marathon only costs $8 to sign up, I, along with a lot of other people, would have signed up right away. Come November, I, along with a lot of other people, would probably opt for sleeping in and skipping the race. $80 on the other hand, is just enough to make me feel stupid if I let it go to waste. $80 would make me feel that I have an investment in the race, something to lose. $80 would make it official that I am going to run that marathon and if I don’t follow through that would make me a big, fat failure.
So next spring, if I find myself giving strong consideration to running the marathon, which I am sure I will at some point, I will be sure to send in my check right away, because if I don’t, I will probably be in for another year of thinking that I should run a marathon some day.
October 29, 2009
As all you northerners know, the weather is now taking a turn toward the chilly side, and a long cold winter can spell trouble for staying in peak physical condition. I personally find running outside when it is freezing cold out to be less than enjoyable. For the first 10 minutes I am too cold, and then I go straight to burning hot and sweating through my hat. The only trade off is that I feel a little bit like Rocky while I am out there. But unfortunately, the steps to the Philadelphia Art Museum are still a bit outside of my distance capabilities.
An alternative to a cold outdoor run in the winter is a cozy warm jog on a boring treadmill. Lately I have grown quite accustomed to interesting scenery while I run. This helps me keep my mind off of certain things, such as the fact that I am running. So, I figured that instead of going cold turkey on interesting sights and sounds, that I would ween myself off of them. The perfect solution has been switching from the rough terrain of a woodland trail to a mile run down the street to a high school track. The track still offers a small amount of excitement. For example, the track that I run on is across the street from a Cricket Club where I can watch wealthy retirees do their best not to dirty their pressed white slacks and sweaters. So after a few months on the track, I will be ready to run in place while read the closed captions off CNN and SportsCenter.
October 10, 2009
Back in high school, my old cross-country coach told me, “To be a real runner you have to wear the short shorts.” To this I replied, “I guess I’ll never be a real runner.”
Certain running clothes still seem a little ridiculous to me. It is also strange how they have become so socially acceptable, but only while running. If I were to be running down the street in neon yellow short shorts and a purple mesh tank top, people would be like, “That guy is a dedicated runner and I envy his peak physical condition.” However, if I showed up to a swanky night club wearing the same thing the reactions would be more along the lines of, “Who is this crazy 80’s gay guy, Woody’s is over on 13th Street.”
Other clothing choices face similar double-standards when it comes to running. Take the Armani suit, for example. In that same swanky club, I might be welcomed right in, maybe even escorted to the VIP booth (if the pockets came pre-stuffed with hundreds). But, if I went sprinting down the street in an Armani suit, it would definitely turn some heads. Some might say, “That ex-investment banker is on a murderous rampage!” While others might simply say, “That guy is late.” In either scenario, me running down the street in an Armani suit will not cause people to think about how they need to start hitting the gym again.
I could go on and on with similar examples. G-string and pasties: A-OK at the strip club but heavily frowned upon at Chuck E Cheese. Who comes up with this stuff?
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July 26, 2009
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