Runner #471

Thursday, 04 November 2010

Today I tried the Maple Grove library’s drive-up book drop for the first time. In the past, I have always gotten out of my car and went in to return my items, but today I had no reason to go in, so I decided to try the book drop. Unfortunately, the woman in the minivan ahead of me was returning about 5,000 items, which she had to insert into the drop one at a time. She kept reaching around in her vehicle, picking up one thing at a time.

Then I went to Michaels, which never fails to put me in a bad mood. I had to return a tie-dying kit we bought the other day. There was no signage for where to make a return, so I asked this young employee (who was busy organizing stuff on a rack and didn’t bother to look at me) where I could return something. She replied, but she mumbled so much that I couldn’t understand here. Oh – and she also started walking away mid-sentence. She went behind a cash register, so I assumed for a moment that she was going to help me, but instead she just yelled out: “I can help who ever’s next!”

I just went into a different line, where I was told the wait would be long. So then  I went into a different line. When I got to the front of that line, the cashier told me she’d have to get a manager to help us. And guess what? The manager turned out to be the mumbling, back-turning girl I had first tried talking to!

Man, I hate that store.

Friday, 05 November 2010

Let’s first talk about what went wrong during today’s 6K race.

First, I once again was unable to determine when, exactly, the race began. I was standing there, near the starting line, listening as best as I could. But the starting point is near a highway, and the PA system they use was (once again) inadequate. I wanted to stand closer to the announcer, but it wouldn’t be right for me to stand too close to the front, as I would just get trampled by the ‘real’ runners. So…I started my stopwatch and began running as soon as I could, but I knew I’d already lost some time.

Second, we were instructed to travel counterclockwise around the path. For the last month, I had been running clockwise around it. I know, I know, this shouldn’t make that much of a difference, but it does. See, I knew where all the markers were, and I knew how to pace myself (e.g. “Don’t stop running until I’ve crossed the bridge”). But with everything the opposite way, I couldn’t keep track of my pacing as well.

Alas, I think both of these things made me do better. Since I was worried I had lost several seconds at the start, and since I didn’t know when I could slow down, I just kept on running. In fact, I kept passing people that I had been pacing off of – they would get winded and slow down, and I just kept going. It wasn’t until about 90% of the way around the path that I stopped running. My side hurt and so I took about 30 seconds to walk while pushing in my side. Then I ran again. Then I stopped running again, but this time only for about 20 seconds.

Then, I could see the finish line in view. I looked behind me to see no one closer than 50 feet. I looked in front of me and saw the clock: it was a good thing I hadn’t trusted my stopwatch, as I was several seconds off.

Running slowly and steadily, I was first passed by a tall man who suddenly had a burst of energy. “Oh well,” I thought, “I didn’t want anyone else to get in front of me, but I suppose I’ve done well enough.” Then a woman, about 50 years old by the looks of her, also passed me. She was followed closely on her heels by two more people – also several years older than me.

Somehow, for some reason, I decided to kick it into high gear. I didn’t want to be outrun by three older people in the final few seconds. So I ran. Fast. So fast I kept wondering how high off the ground I was launching myself. So fast that my heels were nearly hitting my butt with each kick back.

With about 5 seconds to go, I passed the three people. At the speed I was going, I nearly smashed into the tall guy. So I increased my speed even more, and, with one second to go, I stepped around that man, put myself directly in front of him, and reclaimed my position.

But since I was so concerned with pissing off four of my co-workers, I neglected to look at the clock.

No worries. One of the ladies who works in my department finished just after me. She said her time was 34:54. The official times won’t be published until sometime next week, but I must’ve finished in 34:40 (give or take 10 seconds), meaning I not only set a new personal best, but I beat my old record by over 80 seconds.

At the moment, I have no plans to beat this record next year.