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by Michael Selman It has been said that runners have their best thoughts of the day while out running. Runner and writer Michael Selman shares his "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com.
But running. Now THERE is something I can sink my teeth into. Running, I take total ownership for like nothing else. I’ll bet I’m not alone. I’ll buy one pair of dress shoes about every five years, but I have a closet full of discontinued Saucony Jazz models that I have yet to wear. Same thing with socks. I can honestly say I may have never bought a pair of socks in any color other than white in my life. That’s what mothers, wives, and girlfriends are for. But I have a whole drawer full of unworn Thorlos that I have purchased in massive quantities through the years at the outlet store in Statesville NC. They have small seconds in them, but I bought them all at half price, and sometimes even got another 25% off when they were having going back to school sales. My running log is another example of my...uh...shall we say organizational skills? I am not a list maker. Food shopping is always an adventure. I don’t write things down, and then I forget things on the list. Sometimes, I even forget where I was meaning to go. Now, you know why my gas gauge is always on “E.” I spend a lot of time going nowhere. But I have documented every run I have taken since 1982, and I can remember most of them vividly. I talk to my princess about a race I ran 12 years ago, and I can still remember the date, the temperature, and my time and place in my age group, down to the tenth of a second. Ask me what I had for dinner last night, and my eyes glaze over. But hey, they had hot dogs, pizza and cookies after that race 12 years ago. I can see you laughing as you read this. And I know why. Scary, isn’t it? Okay, want to see some more of yourself? When I wake up on work days, I have no idea what I am going to wear. It usually goes like this. I’ll grab a pair of socks first. Then I’ll go in the bathroom, turn on the light, and see what color the socks are. From there, I’ll just chose a pair of slacks and shirt from the closet which might go with the socks, and I am ready to face the world. But then there is race day. The first step is the weather channel the night before. Will it be mild, cold, windy, rainy, or hot at race time? Short sleeves or long sleeves. Outer shell, Gor-Tex or tights? Once I have decided, I select the chosen attire, lay it out neatly on top of the chest of drawers, and only then can I peacefully go to sleep. Of course, race day morning starts with another glimpse at TWC, just to make sure. Today, I started wondering if I really may have a problem. On Sunday, I had run a new course around the neighborhood for the first time. I called it 10 miles. But was it? My...uh...organizational skills got the better of me, I guess. I can never allow myself to log a run which is actually shorter than what I claim it to be. I had to drive the course. Of course, when I measure a course, I have to retro-drive it. Since I run against traffic, I need to measure it from the same side of the road I run it on. So today, I drove the course in the reverse direction from what I had run it on Sunday. About half way through, I started to worry. It seemed like five miles came up to fast. Could there possibly be another five to go? I didn’t think so. My hands started to sweat, and beads of perspiration started running down my brow. What if it turned out to be only 9.8? I hit seven miles, and my heart started racing. I thought I still had three to go but I wasn’t sure. Finally I approached the finish line, and knew that everything was going to be okay. The final total. A little more than 10.1. Yes, I could call it ten, and know it was a long one. Or is it? So is there something terribly wrong with me? I am happy to say yes. I am a runner, with no apologies. and I’m not saying that I am obsessive or anything. But Harriet, if you are reading this, cancel my Christmas order for a Chia Pet and my Clapper. All I really want for Christmas is a calibrated wheel. And maybe a couple of pairs of socks in a color other than white.
Thanks Michael for sharing your "Thoughts on Running" with us here at ontherunevents.com Look here for more "Thoughts on Running" by Michael Selman
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There’s a Freudian name for people like me. But I am not that way about
everything. Honest. I don’t line all my cans up on the pantry shelf in
symmetrical or alphabetical order. I’ll let my car get past the “E”
before I think about filling it again. And washing it? Well, that’s what
rain is for. I don’t hang my clothes up by color, or season. Shoot, I
don’t even keep the tops and bottoms separate.