On I went, out of the wood, passing the man leading without knowing I was going to do so. Flip-flap, flip-flap, jog-trot, jog-trot, curnchslap-crunchslap, across the middle of a broad field again, rhythmically running in my greyhound effortless fashion, knowing I had won the race though it wasn't half over, won it if I wanted it, could go on for ten or fifteen or twenty miles if I had to and drop dead at the finish of it, which would be the same, in the end, as living an honest life like the governor wanted me to. -Alan Sillitoe, "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Novice mistake, or an insult?

Today I ran with a local running store's running group for the first time. I saw them advertising a "fun run," and something about the ad suggested it would work for me (I've tried other running groups, and found them frequently way too fast for me).

The weather was predicted to be cold and rainy, so I dressed for cold and rainy. It was actually brisk and sunny. As we headed out, I said, "Oh, I'm overdressed!" aloud and proceeded to take my running sleeves off (I'd planned ahead). The pace leader said, "Yes, being overdressed is a common mistake people make when they first start running!"

I know she didn't mean anything by it, but I've been running for over a decade.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)