October 14, 2021
I had my first run ‘workout’ since pacing 36 miles of the No Business 100. Yesterday was also my first day back at real strength training. It felt hard, but good. This workout was threshold training, meant to increase my body’s ability to process and run through the lactic acid discomfort from hard efforts. I’ll spare you the details but I do both of my weekday runs close to home so that I can take the dog with me for the first 1.5 miles (yeah multitasking) then I continue through the neighborhoods, many of which don’t have sidewalks. They’re not busy streets and, for the most part, people don’t drive too fast. There are lots of folks out riding bikes or walking – yay outdoors!
Did you know there are rules for pedestrian and bicycle traffic on vehicular roadways? Yep. Folks on foot should be on the side of the road going AGAINST traffic, facing the cars. Folks on bicycles should be going WITH the flow of traffic. Being a runner, I’ve spent plenty of time running on roads that don’t have sidewalks, and for the most part, I follow this against-the-flow-of-traffic rule. When I don’t, it’s usually because of some sort of hazard or lack of safe space on the side I’m supposed to be on. Anyway, I’m running along during one of the difficult threshold intervals, huffing and puffing, trying not to die, and a dude (probably at least mid 50’s) is walking his dog on the wrong side (my side). I keep going, because frankly, I don’t want to waste any extra energy by zig zagging, and I think, surely he’s gonna move out of my way – I’m clearly working very hard. Waiting. Waiting. Nothing. Ugh, jerkface. I guess I’ll move out of your way then, even though YOU’RE the one on the wrong side of the road.
Whatever, I kept going, and then came across him again. Same thing. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this guy was just a self-righteous, sexist asshole. The vibe he gave off was “you move out of MY way, woman”. I usually try to just let this stuff roll off of me, who knows what’s going on inside someone else’s head. But today, it really got under my skin. And then I was irritated because I was wasting mental and emotional energy on this when I should have been focusing on this hard run! I fumed for a minute or two, then decided I had to let it go because by continuing to hold onto it, I’m letting him win. I can’t control what he does, but I can control how I react to it. So I let myself be angry for a minute, then had to refocus on the workout.
I’ve been trying to be more mindful of my emotional reactions to things/people/events. It’s hard because I have some pretty strong reactions sometimes. And often they’re not flattering or reactions I’m proud of, usually concerning my children when they frustrate me. I fail a lot. I know that the first step is recognizing my feelings, realizing they’re happening, and giving myself the space to notice them without judgement. Kind of like being in a fast flowing river. Rather than flailing all about, trying to keep my head above the water I need to take some deep breaths, relax, and float. Experience the emotions without reacting to them. Interesting concept, and very hard to implement, but that’s another brick (or dozens) I’m working on removing.
Dont Should on Me 