Wicking Run

Yesterday (Monday) I neither ran nor did anything else blogworthy. Today I thought it would be a good idea to run and write a post about that.

It was about the only thing that motivated me. Monday afternoon was very warm, but Tuesday was supposed to be better. LIES! What sacks those meteorologists are! (um, that’s short for “lying sacks of shit,” but I didn’t want to use that entire vulgar expression) (oops) (Now I’m getting silly)

I was looking around for a sufficiently large shirt to run in when I noticed a running shirt I almost never wear. It is an actual running shirt which I got it when I ran a 5K in Oneida year before last. It’s that “wicking” material that’s supposed to pull the sweat away from your body for a more comfortable run. It is a medium, which is the size I suppose I actually take. I usually wear a large, sometimes with a couple of X’s. I like a baggy shirt, especially when I run. But I thought, “Wicking material may obviate the need for bagginess. I’ll try it!” I didn’t think bicycle shorts would look as good with a non-baggy shirt, so I looked for my army shorts, with the built in underwear. But they’re black, and I don’t like to wear black things when it’s sunny. I found my swim shorts (yes, girl swim shorts; they do make those things). I found my headband (also of wicking material) and I was on my way!

Right away I felt that baggy was better than wicking. However, with shorts, baggy is not better. The bagginess rides up your crotch in a most uncomfortable fashion. My body was not loving me. I felt awkward. I felt slow. I felt as if I had not run a step ever in my life and was I sure this was really how to do it.

Regular readers (if any) know I recently took four days off and regretted it. Well after Thursday I ran both Saturday and Sunday. Yes I missed Friday and Monday, but still. So there I was, put-putting along, wondering what in the hell was wrong with me. Feeling quite certain I was not up to any hills.

I saw a cute little dog across the street. I wondered at first if it was my friend Nicky. Then I saw it was not. Similar color dog, wrong person. Still, that lady might let me pet her dog, if I could cross the street. That would put me on the proper side of German to run one of several hills. The lady and dog walked up a driveway and out of my sight. I crossed the street anyways. I thought I could handle the unknown park (someday I will learn that park’s name and I will be very disappointed to stop calling it the unknown park).

As I got closer to the park, I questioned my choice. The park would be shady, but wouldn’t it be even more humid amongst the trees? Wouldn’t there be lots of bugs, especially on the path through the woods? I looked up ahead and saw the sidewalk stretching out under bright sunshine. Humidity in the bright sunlight or humidity in the shade? I turned into the park.

First I saw a work truck and wondered if somebody was, you know, working. Then I heard the construction vehicles. Oh dear, what was I running into? It seemed to take a long time to get up the little hill into the park and around the corner to where I could see three large machines that seemed to be moving around vast piles of dirt in what I thought was a parking lot.

I didn’t think they would mind if I just ran past them. I wouldn’t get in their way. One back hoe (I guess it was a back hoe; I don’t know from construction vehicles) was scooping dirt, backing up, dumping it in a pile, kind of near the edge of the parking lot I was about to run by. I ran on the other side of the road. That put me on right side, with traffic, and you know how I feel about that (if you don’t know I’ll tell you: I hate it! I don’t do it! I don’t want other people to do it! I wrote a blog post about it once). Still, there was no traffic.

I got back onto the left side when I was past them. Soon I would be into the shady part and on to the path through the woods. A car drove by me. Did I say there was no traffic? Well, I was back on the left side now.

I saw some boys with rifles up ahead. A car was parked on my side of the road with a lady in the driver’s seat. I couldn’t tell if they were BB guns or paintball guns or what. I put my hands up and said, “Don’t shoot!” just to be silly. The lady in the car just shook her head, and one of the boys said, “Hold your fire,” so that was all right.

Soon I was on the path in the woods. It was cooler surrounded by greenery, and the humidity wasn’t as bad. Sweat was still dripping down my face. I guess it would have taken quite a breeze to dry that much sweat.

When I got to the end of the path I thought briefly about running the rest of the way up to the college. Then laughed at myself for even suggesting such a thing. I ran down the road and back home. That took long enough.

By the time I was headed back down German, almost to my street, I realized the shirt and shorts had ceased to bother me. My legs no longer felt like alien appendages. I can’t say I felt good, but I felt like, hey, I did it. I ran. My weight loss goals remain within reach. My plan to run the DARE 5K is still a good one. Wait a minute, I guess I can say I felt good.