Pony Up

Tapping out this blog post, like most of them, on my BlackBerry during my commute……There is a fat woman on the bus, wearing jeans, and her fly is unzipped. I have the impression she is aware it’s unzipped–indeed, that she made the conscious choice, after weighing her options, to leave her house dressed like that–as it is clear that there is no way the jeans can spare the extra two inches around to actually be zipped up. This makes me incredibly sad. 

Today it is cold, windy and rainy. Today I had to run 3 miles. I hate running in baseball caps–I know some runners who will never run without one–but when I run in the rain, I wear one. This means, however, that I must forgo the pigtails, and fall back on the more common pony tail. Not my best look, but there’s no fighting with Mother Nature. 

I stepped out my door at 6:20 AM, and considered the dark, the wind and the rain from the stoop of my apartment building. I turned around and went back inside–I needed more information. If this rain was supposed to stop before 6 PM, then I’d just run home from work. NY1 gave it to me straight: twenty-four hours of unmitigated rain and wind. Okay then, back out I go. 

Truly, the rain doesn’t bother me. It’s the wind that does it. But, even that wasn’t, once it was all said and done, the issue. I was warmed up after 3/4 of a mile, and then after 1.5 miles, the painful tightness in my shins and calves came back. Shit, this is the third time in a week I’ve had this issue while running, and I am not pleased one bit. No, rather, I can’t bear it. 

I cut my run short after 2 miles, turned straight into my building and stretched for half an hour–more time than I’d actually run. I used the stick on my calves and that little muscle that runs along the outside of the shin. I am the first to acknowledge that my nerves are taper-frayed, and I know that twingey pains are a normal part of your body regrouping before the race. But this feels like something else, something more. All I can do at this point is stretch it and stick it, so that’s what I’m a-gonna do, multiple times a day. And maybe keep Aleve handy on race day.