Monday, July 4, 2011

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

13 comments:

  1. You never fail to cheer me up! Your blog is really great and thank you so much for the mention a while back. I do read I'm just crap at comments. Sending your foot healing powers :)

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  2. I've used my spare 'car shoes' a couple of times. A friend borrowed them once when he left his at work. Haven't got one, but I think a brassiere can be used to repair a broken fan belt - or was it a pair of pantyhose?

    A mate of mine calls himself 'wannabe coach' - says he always wanted to coach me, but doesn't know I'm uncoachable! One very cool thing about that Spice Girls clip is that it was shot in one long take. Hitchcock shot 'Rope' using very long takes. Takes quite some rehearsing!

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  3. Thank you Bee! I'm a bit the same way with comments, but I do love your blog. :)

    Ewen- hehe..I might have to add the brassiere to the safety list now! ;) Oh and I'm uncoachable too- at least I've been told that. I didn't know about the video. OK GO is notorious for those one long take videos. My favorite is the one where they are on the treadmill.

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  4. HA! I'm glad you had a plan B!

    And I also love that Spice Girl song, sadly. It's on my playlist often.

    Oh, and my blog has wanna-be in the title, but nothing to do with running... Eek! In my defense, I really do wanna-be a hippie chick, I'm just too lazy to do it right :D

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  5. Ahh but your blog is on my favorites list, and I loved the title from the start. I definitely didn't have you in mind when I wrote that!

    hehe. I hate that I like that song.

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  6. Hahaha! I knew you weren't picking on my blog!

    I also hate that I like that song, but seriously, I can bop around to it like nobody's bidness!

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  7. heh- same here. We might need to go dancing some time! :D

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  8. I go back and forth on how much love there is in the blogosphere. I mean, part of me enjoys it ... we are all out there trying, looking to improve, and getting a bit of encouragement (even if it is mostly smoke been blown) ain't all that bad. Particularly in light of message boards as the alternative (where everyone is told they suck).

    But then I can see it gets a bit rich. An old fashion occasional, "you ain't all that" is some of the best stuff your friends can deliver.

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  9. Heh- yes, I completely agree. I like that last part too. I do love encouragement and even like to toss a compliment when the urge strikes, but not at the expense of the truth.

    I guess I'm taking a pot shot at people who claim to be "on the run", but don't actually put much into training; those who put a little something into training and suddenly think they are an expert and can tell everyone just how it's done; and people who have to copy a style or continually drop a name in order to say much of anything. I think when people are real about what they post, it makes for better reading.

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  10. Dude- Spice Girls rock. I'm just afraid to admit it in public. I could never resist Britpop, though I think the Spice Girls temporarily helped give it a bad name. Thank goodness Radiohead emerged to clear up any lingering disgust or resentment toward the genre, no?

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  11. Omg! Wannabe is one of my favorite songs on my ipod shuffle. And if you thought that was embarrassing (can't think why - hello, it's pure awesomeness!) my actual favorite is Sexyback.

    I agree with you, btw, that the dark side is much more interesting :D

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  12. hehe. I am so glad to find out that I'm not alone in this!

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