Shirt Free Club

I was that guy in high school and college that would always hope for "shirts" rather than "skins" when playing sports.  It wasn't that I was prude, I'm just svelte, okay skinny, and didn't need to prove that I didn't have chest hair.

Yet I spent hours without a shirt because I worked at summer camps and was the Waterfront Director for years.  I spent my summers wearing a swim suit and no shirt and will have skin cancer as my proof. 

I'm fine in the pool or beach without a shirt but out in "public" just isn't my style. 

So, this week I was running and had even looked at the weather when choosing shorts and long sleeve top.  I headed out on my run and was surprised by two things, first it was sunny and second it was warm.  These are things that shock us in the Pacific North West.  I instantly regretted not wearing sunglasses and about seven minutes later, I regretted wearing a long sleeve top.  For the next mile, I tried to push sleeves up and get comfortable but eventually I gave up.

In a move that would have been more fun to watch than do, while still running, I took off my top, forgot to take off my headphones, tangled everything, untangled things, tied the shirt around my waist, tangled my headphones, and eventually recovered and kept running.

The good news, it felt great.  Nice and cool and I felt like a vitamin D magnet.  The bad news, I wasn't preoccupied with being perceived as skinny. 

The good news is that now that I'm in my forties, I care but not that much.  I'm more focused on my comfort than that of strangers and so I'll wear things I'd never wear as a teen. 

I don't think I'll make it a habit to run without a shirt, or to start mowing the lawn without a shirt, or barbequing without a shirt or all the other things the the Shirt Free Club does.  Yet, I think I'm one step closer to becoming a member.

Afraid of the Dark

When I was a kid, I was really scared of the dark.  I remember a really creapy row of houses near my parents house that would teriffy me as a kid and I would race through that area.  It was dark and I'd run or ride my bike as fast as I could to get into light and near "safe" houses.

It was kind of ironic that when my wife and I bought our first home, it was on this street.  It didn't occur to me that I bought a piece of terror until the first time I left our house at night and I could picture a frigtened kid racing down the street in a panic.

I recently didn't get a chance to run until about 8:00 PM.  I was in the mountains of Idaho for work and I typically just run down a country road and down a seldome used path.  It was pitch black and I didn't have a light but I was feeling kind of cocky and proud at my ability to run in the dark an not be afraid.

I ran about 1/4 mile before I saw this dark grey animal race infront of me.  I think it was a deer but I wasn't sure if the deer was running from me or from some other animal.  Earlier in the day I had seen about 30 elk in our field and I started to wonder whether wolves and mountain lions had also seen this tasty herd.

At this point, my heart was racing and I was paranoid.  So I turned around an ran a .22 mile loop around the buildings for the next 36:04.  It was one of the longer 4.5 miles that I've run and a lot of the run was in the dark but at least I didn't need to look over my shoulder the whole time.

The good news is that while I've changed quite a bit in the last 30+ years, some things are still the same.  I run faster when I'm scared and I still get scared.

Nod, Smile, Glare, Ignore

I am socially awkward because of two major life impacting things that were out of my control.

First, I grew up in Japan where people are polite and bow.

Second, I then moved to Nebraska where people tend to be like Golden Retrievers and are ready to be friends just because you both are wearing red sweatshirts with the letter "N" on them. 

Now I live in the Northwest and spend most of my time interacting with people from Washington and Oregon.  While we are no means like people from the other coast, people here tend to not be quite as friendly or polite. 

So, my awkwardness really shows when I run because I tend to do several things that when combined together come accross as creepy.

1.  I smile
2.  I make eye contact
3.  I nod

It is at this point that people either non, smile, glare, or ignore me.  They rarely say anything and I don't look over my shoulder to see if they are staring in disbelief. However, I imagine them shaking their head and wondering whether I'm evil or just weird. 

I have discovered two trains of thought that make me feel better.  I try to imagine them either thinking that I am the most fluid effortless runner they have ever seen or that they just can't get over how great my calves look. 

So, I keep running, awkwardly doing steps 1-3 and then doing this strange run in which I try to look like I'm floating while simultaniously flexing my calves.

See you on the trail and just smile back!

Run Like a Dog or Cat

During today's run I saw a dog running.  It was retrieving a ball and what I noticed was that it ran just as fast for the ball as it did bringing it back.  It also ran like crazy each time the owner did a fake throw.  It ran in circles all around as if to shout, "throw the ball so I can run more!"

Also during today's run (in the rain) I saw a cat sitting in the doorway.  It look annoyed by the rain and by the fact that it would need to eventually run. 

Dogs run for joy, cats run because they have to.

I think I'm more dog than cat.  There are a bunch of other ways to exercise, get outdoors, wear spandex than running.  I just like to run.

Maybe I don't get all slobbery getting ready to run in the rain but I'm glad I was reminded today that I run because it is fun, not because I have to.

A week of two first

 FIRST of the Firsts

My oldest daughter is starting school this week.  Didn't think that I would write for a few more years but she really wants to learn and go to school. 

I want the best for my girls and can't wait to see how they impact the world.  I want them to be strong, confident and most of all fly-fishing triathletes.  Well that is kind of awkward, but I mean girls who enjoy both activities, not necessarily at the same time. 

Sending her to school wasn't an easy choice because I know childhood only comes once.  She has a lifetime of achievement ahead of her, and I'd like to postpone the years of obligation and keep her care free as long as possible.  Yet this is what she seems to be wired for and I know it will make her happy, so I'll go with her feelings over mine.

SECOND of the Firsts

I'm doing 1/3 of a 1/2 Ironman.  So for all your math people, I will be doing 1/6 of an Ironman this weekend.  I was asked to be on a team with my neighbor and a friend.  My neighbor will swim, friend will bike, and I will suffer on the run. 

It has been a while since I did a stand alone half marathon.  I'm not nervous, just don't know how to pace myself.  I'm used to doing my best given I already swam and biked.  Now I don't have an excuse.

Also, I feel like I have to apologize to anyone that I may happen to pass and explain that I'm only doing 1/6th of an ironman. 

I'd much rather do the whole thing rather than just the run, but now it isn't all about me, I'm now part of a team and even though we don't have a cool name or matching jersey's we are a team to be reckoned with, at least until the run begins. 

I'm hearing birds

I've been running with my Iphone using the Nike+ GPS app.  No, I don't post my runs to Facebook or get cheers as I run.  I would if I didn't think I would end up de-friended. 

So one of the many benefits of the Iphone and Nike + includes tracking my miles, seeing some semblance of my pace, a pretty map and getting interrupted by calls.  Oh, and I can listen to music. 

I typically run with my aptly and creatively titled play list called "running songs".  I used a great tool to tell me the BPM so that I could find a bunch of fast but not too fast paced songs to keep me moving.

I'm bored to death with the mix.  Since I got the phone in February, I've used it for exactly 34 hours 48 minutes and 10 seconds of running.  Nearly every second of that was listening to the songs on that play list.  So I shook things up a bit by allowing my phone to randomly play all the songs in my libarary except Christmas songs. 

Things were going great on my run until a really relaxing album came on that is filled with this sort of meditative piano music.  The Living Music, my Michael Jones CD is really nice when trying to fall asleep but not what I consider inspired running music.  However, since I didn't want to be a slave to my musically infused metronome, I kept running while listening to "Morning Mist" or "Spring Song" or some other stirring melody.

It actually was nice and then I started to get confused because I was hearing things in the music I hadn't heard before.  Birds... not just one but a bunch of singing birds.  I listened carefully and kind of got a kick out of listening to fake birds while running outside.  It seemed ironic and kind of silly...that is until the song ended and the singing birds didn't.  I pulled my ear buds out and the birds were even louder.

I didn't realize that I was missing out on so many birds.  Maybe they just migrated in but most likely my carefully chosen, BPM focused music was drowning them out.

So today, I ran with one ear bud out and the music turned down.  I heard lots of birds and while I can't understand them because I am a predator, not a song bird, I think they liked how fast I was running and that I finally was listening.

My Lunch Run - One of my favorite things

I love my lunch run.  I've written about it before and will no doubt write about it again.  However, now I have found a way to share one of my favorite sections with you and all you have to do is try not to vomit due to the poor video.

Sorry about how bumpy this is, I guess it shows that I'm not too smooth of a runner.  I thought I would do a better job running with one hand given my experience pushing a stroller and running.  It really was tiring holding my iPhone in front of me and trying to keep it steady.

Things I noticed on the trail today.
1.  Lots of bright blue eggs that are cracked.
2.  Trash that I tried to film around
3.  Chalk arrows that make me think other people may know about my trail.
4.  I wish the tree at the bottom of the first hill hadn't been cut out, it would have been more impressive to have me leap over it and demonstrate my predator moves.  
5.  There is some weird noise that sounds like a mourning dove.  Maybe I make that sound when I run and don't know it.

All I know is that this section makes me happy and my sharing it may make you sick.  For any of you in the area, let me know when you want to go running.

My running partner is back

I was startled yesterday while running when my running partner suddenly was right beside me, matching me stride for stride.  I hadn't seen him for about 4 months.  Now he was back, just like that, no calls, no explanation, just matching my stride.

He looked stronger than last time I saw him, smother, faster, more confidence.  Maybe a bit thinner but more muscular at the same time.

I just looked over, gave a nod and said, "Welcome back shadow, missed running with you."

Training turned to fun

I've been in Ashville NC area traveling for work for the past week.  It was the typical long days and late nights of meetings but I was able to sneak away for two runs.  It was freezing on the first day and my motivation and energy were low.  Add to that, I didn't know where to go and all options pointed up.

I finally got out and started up - hoping to find some trails and enjoy the mountains.  Up is hard work and my legs and lungs were hating it.  However, as I climbed I started to be flooded with memories from when I was a kid hiking with my family.  I grew up in Japan and our trails were pretty much dirt with occasional huge rocks.  My older brothers and I would run like crazy pretending to be on motorcycles and launching off the rocks. We called it "Jumping Motocycles". 

Well, I was climbing so I only grunted as I tried to get up the rocks but those thoughts really helped get me up the hill.  On the way down, the fun started and I started to play again.  I gingerly launched (more like a slight hop) off a rock and then I couldn't stop myself.  I didn't make motorcycle noises but I wish I had. 

I ran for an hour and had a great time.  Yesterday I ran for another 1:40 and it felt like a short jog.  I had a great time.  I wonder why running and biking don't feel the same at home?  I wish they did.