I ran tonight.
Yeah, the Breakaway run was canceled, but you know what? Fuck that. Fuck canceling because of "snow" and "ice" and "treacherous conditions." I was one of six people who showed up, and the only girl, which makes me...one of the boys. Or something. Anyway.
I was done early and was waiting to go to see Hood to Coast with a fellow runner who was still out running. Since the store was closed, I was stuck hanging out in the parking lot by myself.
Oh, what's that? A cop? Checking up on the store next to Breakaway and asking me if I just came out of it, like maybe I'd knocked over the joint or something? (This is Memphis after all.)
"No, I was just out for a run!" I said cheerily.
At roughly that exact moment, two other runners showed up in the parking lot (note: they had run seven miles and were getting back mere minutes after my 4.5 mile run). There were high-fives over our hardcore-d-ness for showing up to begin with.
A second cop car joined the first and the two officers watched our exchange. The first one rolled down his window.
"You do know it's COLD AS SHIT OUT HERE, don't you?" he said.
"Yes," the three of us replied.
"HAHA, just making sure," he said.
Runners are fucking weird.
Yes Yes you are!!! I think you are crazy!
ReplyDeleteBut the big question is.. did you knock the place off or what? lol
HA!! I have to say I was *really* glad the other guys showed up when they did because I was totally just hanging out, by myself, in a parking lot, in about 19 degree weather, and I'm pretty sure something had gone down in that store. So I either just missed witnessing a robbery, or the cop was about to start questioning my story about being there for a run.
ReplyDeleteThere was a line in Hood to Coast about the addictive nature of running and while I am in no way, shape, or form the type of athlete 95% of the people I run with are, I would have to concede that after showing up last night, I might have a bit of a problem... :)
You do have a problem its call way too much time on your hands. 19 degrees huh. the reminds me when they made us do a freaking 6 mile run at OCS. freaking cold as a witch's tit. I wish I knew how cold it was but that was the winter we had 6 frostbite casualties in an hour on the rifle range. I was soo freaking cold during that run its not even funny. full sweats beanie and gloves and I still did not break a sweat. in fact I couldnt really feel much below my knees. yeah you should seek some help.
ReplyDeletea) I think that's the pot calling the kettle black on having too much time on their hands. Dude, how many comments did you leave me?! (Kidding, of course. I LOVE COMMENTS.) :D
ReplyDeleteb) Speaking of pots and kettles, YOU'RE A MARINE. You can never say anything to me about being crazy. ;)
I just finished reading, "Generation Kill" and the DVD is on its way, so it's my expert opinion that yes, marines are a little on the crazy side.
ReplyDeleteKeep running. It will keep you from running to fat!
And cold!? Honey, you can't talk about cold and ice down there in the (relatively) warm southern states. We got cold. We got snow. AND we got ice.
So, I've heard about this myth (?) that you're supposed to get addicted to working out if you do it often and long enough...? Never happened to me, though (well, the key words are apperently often and ...)
ReplyDeleteSo there's nothing wrong with you, you're just addicted. And that's always ... eh... good...? ;-)
^yeah, so that was supposed to be often and long enough , but well...
ReplyDeleteCC - I thought about you when I was writing this because I know you would laugh at what we consider cold! But we're wimps down here and even the police are okay with admitting it. :)
ReplyDeleteLinna - I can vouch that there is truth to the myth!! I just never thought I'd be one to get addicted. It's actually a little weird how much I used to avoid physical activity, and what I used to consider great accomplishments I now consider wussy. And, alright, so I may have a minor addiction...but there are people out there who are truly nuts and as long as I'm not one of them, this is totally okay, right?! :D
Just for the record, there obviously isn't anything wrong with being truly nuts. But none of us are, obviously! We're obviously completely sane :)
ReplyDeleteHonestly, that's one addiction I wouldn't mind. Although I guess technically you cannot get addicted to something you never try. Too bad it's not like heroin, one go and you're hooked for life ;)
And 19 degrees? Farenheit? That IS cold! It's about the same as we've had here today, and Sweden is officially a cold country in the winter (and sometimes in the summer... Too often in the summer, actually...) :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not like heroin! It took me about four years to get to this point and in thinking of it that way, it's amazing I kept going to begin with... Oh, but yes. We are totally sane. TOTALLY. All of us!! :D
ReplyDeleteAnd ha! Thanks for your affirmation on the cold!! It's close to 40 degrees warmer today (!!) and is going to be even warmer in the following days, so I guess I just lucked out that the COLDEST DAY happened to fall on a running day. Typical... :) I hope you start warming up too!!!
Four years?! (!!?!??!!) Well, that rules out any chances I ever had on becoming addicted. I'm just not that persistent. At least not when it comes to stuff I have to convince myself into doing. If we're talking about other stuff - like eating chocolate for example - I'm very persistent ;)
ReplyDelete...and I'll stop spamming your comments section now...
HA! Spam away. :D And truth be told, I may have a chocolate-eating addiction as well. The running balances out many things... :)
ReplyDeleteThis post is excellent. I can totally see you standing there in the parking lot & THE LAW shows up to question you. Damn. How fucking freaky is that? Glad to hear they didn't think you were up to no good. That really would have been scary. Been in that situation with cops, they serve a purpose for the greater good, but if they get the wrong idea in their heads, you're fucked.
ReplyDeleteAnd the crazy thing was that when I saw the other runners come up, I walked over with every intention of saying, "Hey, come talk to me like I'm a normal person because these cops think I'm a criminal!" But then I didn't even have to because they immediately just started talking to me like I was normal anyway. And then the cop totally thought we were all *not* normal...but not because we were sketchy, because we were running. Oh, the complexity of human interaction! ;D
ReplyDelete