No, I don't mean sans shorts and shirt (don't worry Mom). I mean running without the essentials; those things that every runner has which they always, always need to bring with them on a run. For me, I would be totally lost without:
My watch:
I don't necessarily need to have my Garmin, but at the very least I need my stopwatch. Normally the stopwatch is reserved for easy runs because, well, frankly the last thing I need to worry about on an easy run is what my pace is, as that will inevitabley cause me to try and go faster, hence defeating the purpose of the easy run. The Garmin is great because it does tempt me to work harder and go faster, but, like I said, a minimum of the stopwatch is fine.
My hat:
Except for very early morning runs, I almost always have a hat or visor glued to my head. The benefits are threefold: 1) No blinding sun in my eyes 2) Keeps the buckets of sweat from dripping down my forehead and into my eyes 3) Looks super cool!
Basically, no watch or no hat and Kristin is not a happy girl. No watch AND no hat and Kristin is so upset she needs to start referring to herself in the third person!
Every so often I have a desire to run "naked" or run without all the extra junk. Just me and my feet hitting the pavement. The wind in my hair. No watch. No water bottle. Just do it.
There is a big difference, however, between feeling carefree and tossing those extras aside, and carelessly forgetting them at home. And that's exactly what I did today.
I must be totally losing it because I have NEVER forgotten my watch. The combination of forgetting both of beloved items caused me to be in the fowlest mood ever. So fowl that I abandoned more than half my run and only made it 3.5 out of 8 miles. MAJOR FAIL.
In the last week I have had several occassions when I've been in a bad mood. This is a very new feeling to me as, for the last year since I've been running, I've been on an almost consistant runner's high. In fact, for the last year, my bad moods haven't lasted more than a few minutes. I've basically been a super happy person for 12 months straight.
It took me my entire, ridiculously lame 3.5 miles and 15 more minutes afterwards to calm down. Soon after I was back to my happy, positive self and feeling good. I know I'll just wake up early tomorrow and make up the mileage. Maybe, just to be safe though, I should write a big fat sticky note on my mirror to remind me not to forget the essentials next time!
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| *Compression socks are also an essential on long runs |
I don't necessarily need to have my Garmin, but at the very least I need my stopwatch. Normally the stopwatch is reserved for easy runs because, well, frankly the last thing I need to worry about on an easy run is what my pace is, as that will inevitabley cause me to try and go faster, hence defeating the purpose of the easy run. The Garmin is great because it does tempt me to work harder and go faster, but, like I said, a minimum of the stopwatch is fine.
My hat:
Except for very early morning runs, I almost always have a hat or visor glued to my head. The benefits are threefold: 1) No blinding sun in my eyes 2) Keeps the buckets of sweat from dripping down my forehead and into my eyes 3) Looks super cool!
Basically, no watch or no hat and Kristin is not a happy girl. No watch AND no hat and Kristin is so upset she needs to start referring to herself in the third person!
Every so often I have a desire to run "naked" or run without all the extra junk. Just me and my feet hitting the pavement. The wind in my hair. No watch. No water bottle. Just do it.
There is a big difference, however, between feeling carefree and tossing those extras aside, and carelessly forgetting them at home. And that's exactly what I did today.
I must be totally losing it because I have NEVER forgotten my watch. The combination of forgetting both of beloved items caused me to be in the fowlest mood ever. So fowl that I abandoned more than half my run and only made it 3.5 out of 8 miles. MAJOR FAIL.
In the last week I have had several occassions when I've been in a bad mood. This is a very new feeling to me as, for the last year since I've been running, I've been on an almost consistant runner's high. In fact, for the last year, my bad moods haven't lasted more than a few minutes. I've basically been a super happy person for 12 months straight.
It took me my entire, ridiculously lame 3.5 miles and 15 more minutes afterwards to calm down. Soon after I was back to my happy, positive self and feeling good. I know I'll just wake up early tomorrow and make up the mileage. Maybe, just to be safe though, I should write a big fat sticky note on my mirror to remind me not to forget the essentials next time!
Ha! I bet this post generates traffic. The last time "running" and "naked" showed up in one of my post titles, I got waaaay more traffic than i expected! ;) But it's all good.
ReplyDeleteAs for running must-haves: I (almost) never leave without my watch, toe socks, and house keys + pepper spray. (The shoes and clothes change.) Sometimes I leave the watch behind on purpose, but that's rare.
Hmm, I've actually thought of bringing pepper spray with me on early morning and evening runs. Especially since the number of daylight hours are slowly disappearing. Good idea Beth!
ReplyDeletecute post i like it ^__^
ReplyDelete