This afternoon I decided I feel like writing, but had no inspiration for a topic. So I threw it out to my Twitter friends, and they gave me five questions to answer.
1. Destination running…where and why? from @RunEricRun, who blogs at Run Eric Run.
This could be a post on its own. In fact, I kind of already wrote it when @BklynRunner invited me to be a guest writer on her blog for a day. But, if I had to give one answer, this would be it, in two parts.
a. Destination Run (done). WHERE: London Marathon, 2010. WHY: Because I have dreamt of running the London Marathon ever since I saw @RyanHall3 race it in 2008; and because I had the opportunity to use it as a fundraising event for @TeamFox. Team Fox is the grassroots fundraising arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Disease, and finding a cure to PD is something that is very important to me.
b. Destination Run (to do). WHERE: Le Marche, Italy. WHY: I love the hills of The Marches, a lesser-known region of Italy on the Eastern coast. I lived there as a student in 1994. I have nurtured a dream of returning there to lease a house in the foothills of the Appenine Mountains for so long that I have no doubt that one day I will actually do it. The details of this sabbatical, as I like to imagine it, change slightly from year to year but the outline remains the same: I rent a house in the hills, where I will spend my days cooking Italian dishes, trotting through the hills, reading all the books I’ve hoarded for years, and mingling with the locals in town at the bar and the market. #iwilldothis
2. Are you interested in ultramarathons? Why/why not? How would your ultramarathon goals differ from other running? from @experiri, who posts his photography and musings at Scholar’s Retreat 365.
This is an easy one. I am not interested in ultramarathons as an event I’d run or race. This is because my experience with the marathon has shown me that my body and my enthusiasm can only handle training for one 26.2-mile race a year, which leads me to believe that training for and racing an ultra would seriously fuck me up. If I were to one day get superpowers and be able to train for and run an ultra, I’d pick a really beautiful course and just do it for the adventure, moseying along and taking it all in with no time goals. I also like the notion of having a support crew out there for me (it’s like a relay, except I’m the only sucker running). This would be different than my goals from my current running because I primarily run to gain racing experience, set goals, push my limits, and set PRs. Caveat: I would love to crew for a friend on an ultramarathon. So in that regard, I am interested in ultramarathons.
3. Why do you wake up so early to run? from @rundigger, my fellow predawn runner and blooger at Run Digger Run.
Awe man! People are gonna think I planted you in the audience, Matt, this is such a great question. Practically, I run in the morning because it is the one time of day I know won’t be fucked with–if I get up to run before work, I’m guaranteed to get in my workout. If I wait until after work, there is always the chance that something will come up at the office which will prevent me from getting out there. But there are many other reasons I get up at 5 AM in the summer (and around 5:45 in the winter) to go running. I feel virtuous and hardcore, up and exercising when the rest of the city is resting; I also like the resulting sense of accomplishment (It’s not even 7 AM and I’ve already run 6 miles!). I prefer the light traffic–because I live in the city, running during “normal” hours means having to stop for more cars and weave around more pedestrians. In the summer, it’s significantly less hot (I wouldn’t go so far as to say “cooler”). Sometimes I run to work, so it’s a way of commuting. And there are sentimental incentives: I get to see the sunrise; chances are greater that I’ll have my bridge all to myself. If you were to ask me while I’m in an open and philosophical mood, I might even tell you that I run early in the morning because I imagine other hardy, dedicated running souls, other New Yorkers who drag themselves out of bed for the love of this specific movement to chase a certain dream. Even though I run alone, I am sharing a moment.
4. What kind of shoes do you wear? from @tiamo46
All kinds! I love high heels, strappy sandals, smart wedges, FMBs, flipflops, cute flats, sensible pumps for the office, though often I wish I could go to work in my LL Bean slippers…. Oh wait! Do you mean RUNNING shoes?! Okay okay but, have I told you about my Pumas? For running, I just switched to Brooks Adrenaline GTS for my training runs (I wore Nike Elite Zooms for years, but they discontinued them at the start of 2010) and for racing half-marathons and shorter I wear my adizeros. I am not the kind of person who has a collection of running shoes. I find the pair I like and I wear them until they wear out.
5. Which literary character would you be, and why? from @RunWestchester, who maintains a friendly yet occasionally contentious blog, Run Westchester Run.
Originally Joe asked me to pick an Austen character but I don’t feel well-versed enough in her to give a proper answer. So, to find an answer for Joe I browsed through my book shelves. I ended up in tears, this is how much my books mean to me. However, I did find a character with whom I have always identified. I say up front that the character is from is a contemporary, bestselling novel from which a smash hit Broadway musical has been adapted, but I read the book in 1996, so long ago that I no longer have my original copy. A year later, when I got my first job, I was thrilled to learn that my new employer had published this novel–it was and remains one of my all-time favorite novels. The book is Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, and the character is Elphaba. Granted, she is a witch, with green skin, living in a magical land with magical powers. Putting that aside, Maguire develops her character in a profound way, and Wicked remains his greatest book. He shows us that her green skin and edgy, intelligent nature as a child alienated her from her peers, leaving her with the conflicting feelings of disdain for others and a longing to be loved. Check! As an outsider getting an education within an institution, she recognized hypocrisy and cruelty. Check! Ultimately, she found love but lost him to tragedy, and withdrew to his home town. Okay, so this is where the comparison starts to fray, but I can say that I’ve lived through a few break-ups that have felt like a tragic loss. (That’s a bit of a stretch. I do love me some drama however. Also, did I ever tell you I had this fantasy when I was in elementary school that my whole class would break into a choreographed song and dance routine, in response to some question from the teacher? I of course would be lifted up and spun around as all the other girls quick-stepped away from me, fluttering their hands….) This response has nothing to do with running, and I suppose there’s nothing original about feeling misunderstood. (I read Wicked when I was in my early 20’s.)
I leave you with two other literary characters. The first is Vina Apsara, brought to life on the page by Salman Rushdie (I met him. He was not impressed.) in what many consider one of his lesser works but which is another of my favorite books. The second is found in Not That Kind of Girl, a memoir which I greatly admire and favor. There you will find the minor character Genevieve. She is me.
Interesting. Missed out, but I would have asked why you tweet so much? 😉 Are tweets cheaper than text messages in the US?
Having crewed for a friend on an ultramarathon (100k), I must agree that that’s the best way to experience an ultra!
The literary character question is a good one. Joe needs to stop re-reading his Austen books. Wicked was playing when we were in Melbourne a year ago. Saw Chicago instead. I’ll look out for the book. By the way, there’s a word or two missing (or extra) in “that the character is from is a…”
You wiseguy! Teasing me…. yes, I love to tweet, what can I say? I make no apologies!
Having seen both musicals, I think you were wise to choose “Chicago” instead.
Readers: when Pigtails casually says “that character is me,” she doesn’t mean “I identify so strongly with that character (Genevieve) that I feel like she is my imaginary literary alter-ego.” She means, that character is ME, as in, based on the real person Pigtails Flying in real life, in a real memoir that you can buy in a bookstore. Pigtails forgets to tell her running buddies that she is famous, and has famous friends, and now belongs to American literature in a small but undeniable way. All hail.
“Entrancing.”