Runner and Non-Runner Relations

Two technical things to get out of the way:

1. I ran four miles this morning. It was pretty good and easy, as intended. Nothing too hard before the Saturday morning long run. It rained a little bit, but not too much to develop puddles and ruin my new running shoes. Which brings me to . . .

2. I got new running shoes!  Again! This time, I have purchased the Nike Air Alaris. Since I've only run with them once, I'm going to hold out on a review until they've been broken in a bit more. They look pretty fly for overpronator foot support, and they looked even more fly with my favorite Japanese R2-D2 t-shirt on my run this morning:

 

BUT HERE'S THE POINT OF THIS POST:

Today, I arrived at work around 11:30 am, as usual. At this time, I'm still rolling on my post-run adrenaline rush. This rush involves having a ton of energy, being in a fantastic mood, and finding that I have a need to talk incessantly--about running. 

My coworkers are not runners. They don't go to the gym. They don't really care about physical activity. All of that is fine, and although that's obviously not my choice or lifestyle, I've been where they are before and I respect it. It's no sweat off my back.

Unfortunately, I basically drive these innocent people nuts everyday because I can't shut up about running. If it's not running, it's calories, or starches, or how much I love spinach. These people do not care, and I know they don't care. Truth is, I can't stop talking it all the time because I absolutely love running. Maybe they think I can't take a hint when they use single-word responses or just look at me like I'm speaking a completely different language. I get it. I notice it's happening. Again, I simply cannot stop. The words must come out and there's no keeping them in.

But this morning it was different. Maybe it's because it was Friday or the weather was warmer and everyone was generally in a decent mood, but my coworkers talked about running with me today. They asked me questions. They acted engaged in the conversation. They seemed genuinely interested in and supportive of my fitness goals. I was so happy.

I don't know what it means, or maybe it's only that after almost two years of being obsessed with  fitness and working out, I've just worn them down so much that they feel that they can no longer fight it, but I like it. I feel supported in a way that I never have before. Being a very self-driven person to the point where I call myself a Viking now, I have never put much stock in the support of others. Now that I have it from a few more people, though, I must say that it feels pretty nice. We'll see where this goes, but I wanted to share that because it pretty much made my week.

Tomorrow

Saturdays are an interesting training day for me. I'll wake up about 7 AM (a nice break from waking up at 5 or 5:30), eat breakfast, hop to the gym to do some upper body work, then do a Zumba class for an hour. I don't consider Zumba exercise because it really does nothing for me. I love to dance and it's gets the blood pumping moderately so I use it as a nice, relaxing warm-up. After that's over, I'll pop a PowerBar and drive downtown where I'll run eight miles. Last time I tried to run eight miles, two weeks ago, I thought my legs were going to snap at the hip somewhere in Old Louisville and I would die alone while hipsters passed by me smoking their Marlboros, not even looking at me because they couldn't hear my screams above the Vampire Weekend blaring in their earbuds. I hope it will go better tomorrow. I am mostly optimistic. It's supposed to be pretty rainy, so optimal Viking conditions are expected.

**Disclaimer: I know pretty much nothing about Vampire Weekend because I'm not all that cool. All I know is that they are a band and I'm 85% sure that hipsters dig them more than the rest of the population.

One foot in the front of the other! Earn the horns!