Tour de Foot

The day was cool but it did not rain on the ~700 participants of the Runaway Pumpkin Half Marathon. There was joy on the shores of Cheadle Lake.

Overall, it was an excellent experience. I did not sprain my ankle, I was not chased by dogs, the people were friendly and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship, and I did not die. My time was mediocre... but it's a start. If nothing else, the race got me out the door and running (training)... 100+ miles of running I would not otherwise have done.

For the first 4 or 5 miles I was running behind a woman with a plush cat tail attached to her pants (Halloween costume). It bounced as she ran. The base of the tail was flat, the rest was round, and I had this split-second feeling that the tail needed to be amputated — it was flat at the base and the blood supply must be cut off and the tail was going to necrose. Yeah, roll your eyes, it's o.k.

Running became difficult around mile 5 or 6. Some minor hills and I wasn't drinking enough water. You'd think I'd've figured out the seriousness of a dry face. Anyway... "This is hard!" I thought — and then — "but who said it was supposed to be easy? There'd be little point in running it, if it was..." ...and... "I've done 10 miles before... this is only three more..."

I began to feel asthmatic after mile 8 or 9. That's never happened before. Kinda freaky, really. My legs would have gone faster but my pulmonary alveoli or bronchioles or something kept closing off and making me wheeze. Undesirable sensation. Due to dehydration? I don't know. I thought of Pahom in "How Much Land Does a Man Need?" by Leo Tolstoy. The Bashkirs will sell him land — all the land he can run around in a day. He is greedy (and doesn't drink enough water) and dies as soon as he reaches his starting point.

Next time I will drink by number — a certain number of ounces per mile — and see how I feel.

Sociological Inference

I'm trying to develop a running addiction. I want to develop the habit and rarely break it.

There are many benefits to running. It lowers your resting heart rate, decreases body mass index, builds endurance and discipline. Physical benefits, yes. But take up running and you're also sure to gain insight into the local population. A sociological education.

On an average run around town, I learn about the cuisine of my neighbors. At this house, they're cooking meat, slightly burnt. [They're not vegetarian, unless the meat's for their cat.] At another spot, there's a squash/spaghetti/Italian smell. [They eat vegetables!]

Someone smoking a cigar. [Stressed about life, developed the habit sometime in the past.]

Perfume smell wafting out of a car. [Someone bothered to hang a deodorizer.]

A wannabe rock star crashing on drums and still at it on my second round 23 minutes later! [Developed that musical taste, somehow. Putting inner frustration into "music?"]

Dogs barking behind fences and closed doors. [People bought the dogs -- why? Children, protection, companionship?]

Four cats lounging around a yard, a plastic feeding container reclining under a bush. [Someone places value on domesticated animal life.]

People riding bikes in the street with their children. [Just like the old days.]

A lady's Rottweiler runs at me, I stand still, I see the hackles already risen along its spine, and the lady says "she's friendly." Hah! [People are blind to the attitudes of their dogs.]

Most days, the ice cream truck plays "Do your ears hang low?", but one day the guy changed it up -- Jingle Bells and a lullaby and who knows what else. I had no idea ice cream trucks could play anything so varied. [An adventurous streak?]

A guy chopping wood in front of his house. [He knows something about house warming.]

A lady trimming vines along her fence. [Places value on beauty.]

Two people on the side walk ahead. One is wearing a ghillie suit, says to me "this is my normal." Yeah, what can you do but laugh?

When I run at the track, I see a subset of the local population. People wanting to improve their health, run faster, win a game of soccer. They're interested in exercise, so am I, and we go out there and run really boring laps and don't feel the fool for the repetition. Sunday, though... wow. There was this guy practicing boxing moves, complete with explosive sound effects, in the middle of the track. Air boxing, I guess you could call it. His sense of the ridiculous was either different from mine or he didn't care.

And I'm still wondering WHY someone put my CamelBak water bottle in an empty trash can. It was lying innocently on the grass and then it disappeared, I thought it was stolen, I looked in a nearby trash can, and Voila! Practical jokester? Hmph.

What do you learn from the smells and sounds of your town?

Return?

Perhaps I shall return to the blog-o-sphere. Perhaps no one will notice if I do.