Change of Plans

My brother always told me that you have to have plan A and plan B. This advice has helped me greatly in life, especially when I was dating someone who tended to be a little bit flaky. It was always so much better to have an alternate plan for when the guy just flat out didn't show. Once he was an hour late, so plan A was still salvageable that time. In general though, it has been good to have a back-up plan ready, just in case. Today was a great example of that.

It's the 4th of July, so everyone on the planet is out running races, getting Barbeques ready or driving to the mountains. My plan was to take the car to do a run up a mountain road. Instead, I locked myself out of the house. This is where plan B came in handy. Fortunately, I also have a safety rule: Always keep at least one pair of old running shoes in the car. I'm a bit careless when it comes to first aid kits, mini tool sets and even spare tires, but I know I can find at least one pair of running shoes in my car at all times. Yay that something went right this morning! Actually two things went right, because my foot held up for an hour easy run without that deep burning sensation in my big toe. There was some minor pulling, but all seems OK. Wheww. Just to note too that two regular bras can do the work of a jog bra, no problem! I won't go into the details of why there was an extra one in my car, as that's generally not one of my standard rules. I just lucked out finding it there. 

Plan A and Plan B are great to keep in mind when it comes to training and racing too. How many times have you been locked out of the track on a day when you had a track workout planned? Last year, I showed up to a race that was held the day before, but was marked on the Colorado race calendar on the wrong day. Instead, I ran a hard workout on the roads. Long ago, a friend of mine and I went to a race in Denver. The course was so icy that we decided to bail. We warmed up, did some strides and went to a coffee shop instead. With the foot issue, I'm always having to think of several options and alternatives for workouts. 

I've noticed a disturbing trend in many women's running blogs lately. There's a tremendous number of whiny I'm so average but look at me  !!! style blogs. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not talking about anyone who is simply out there doing their best, running in the middle of the pack and writing about it. (uhh, that's pretty much where I'm at now!) I don't have a problem with that. It's the ones who try to get attention by claiming how lame (not in the sense that they are actually limping like I am) they are, and expect and want everyone to tell them how great they are. I suppose I come down on myself way too hard, but that's the frustration of being where I am compared to where I once was coming to the surface.To help clarify, the blogs I'm talking about all have titles that include one or several of the following words: wannabe, happy, healthy, smiling, active or any random word followed by "on the run". I'm not a fan. I prefer those who tell it like it is in an interesting way. Maybe I'm slightly drawn to the darker side, the obsessed, those who have a tendency to self destruct, loners, addicts and anyone who has at least thought about stepping on the wrong side of the law. Sure it's great that there are millions of happy joggers, but I prefer to read something of substance. That doesn't mean it has to be all gloomy. I'm also drawn to the style obsessed, anyone into animation, people who can play or even those who like bad ass music, anyone who's not afraid to take a nap in the afternoon and those perpetually positive individuals who don't feel the need to inflict their good moods on anyone who's not all smiles.

Ha- wannabe. I actually love the term, but not so much how it's used when it comes to running. It makes me think of this song. Not so cool

And this one too:  Eagles of Death Metal. Very cool.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Just ignore this post. I'm grumpy because I want to be able to run hard, and, instead, I'm forced to watch out for my foot.  grrr