Running Mishap

As I shared in a previous post, I am in the midst of the Couch to 5K program. In fact, as of this post, I am about to complete week 6, 2/3rds of the way through. As with most new endeavors, the process has had its highs and lows. Today I share one of the more absurd moments.

We were a few days into the April vacation and my rambunctious 13-yr-old and his best buddy were restless. My husband, Paul, and I were about to head to the track at our local high school. I suggested the boys grab a football and come with us. Like two oversized and goofy puppies, these man-sized boys bounded to the car. As Paul and I begin our run, the boys head into the center of the track and occupy themselves for the next 30 mins leaping into mid air trying to catch the football at the apex of their jump and then flop on the pole vaulters' mattress.

And then it all went awry.
Very soon into my run, my right bra strap slid off my shoulder. As soon as I pulled it back up, the left strap slid down my left arm and rested in the crease of my left elbow. I put my iPod in my other hand and arighted my left strap. Immediately, the right one goes down again. This unbelievably frustrating process continued for at least a lap and a half of the track. By now, I am so frustrated I am gritting my teeth. Then, a great song came on my ipod and transported me away from the physical rigors of running. Does that happen to you where your brain leaves your body? Well, when my attention returned to the moment, both bra straps we resting comfortable in the crooks of my elbows and my bra was around my waist! I think what drew my attention back to reality was the fact that the drooped bra straps we restricting my natural running motion.

So, with my son and his buddy right there, my solution was to just remove the bra and keep running. I know; I'm a classy girl.

Today's lesson: Foundation garments are important...even in sports.

I See Dead People

Spoiler Alert: If you have never seen the movie "The Sixth Sense" (and I highly recommend that you do), read no further because I will give away one of the most turn-on-a-dime plot revealers of all time.

One of the most chilling lines ever, right? When little Haley Joel Osment playing the role of Cole confesses to Bruce Willis' character that he has a sixth sense...one beyond sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. He can see people from another dimension. People who have left the time and space dimension of Earth and are wandering around in some sort of altered dimension. Crazy, right?

Today's tale is a wandering one that will ultimately reveal that I have come to the realization that I too have a sixth sense. Thankfully, mine is different from Cole's.

The story starts about a month ago. Paulie, my husband of almost 19 years, is an avid exerciser. His father had a quadruple bypass at age 54 and that possibility scares the dickens out of Paulie; thus he works out several times a week and has for as long as we have been together.

However, like many, he always gains a little weight over the winter months...and this winter was especially hard to be motivated to exercise. Who had any juice for that after all that snow shoveling?

In early March, Paulie asked me if I would begin a 9 week running program with him called "Couch to 5K." My initial response was, "Have you met me? I am the least athletic person on the planet!" My second response was, "Hell no." Thankfully, when my maturity started to wax and my freshness waned, I realized that it had been a while since the last time Paulie asked to do something with me. So I acquiesced and as of today we are three-and-a-half weeks into the 9 week program.

At the start of week 4, the Couch to 5K plan is to walk a five minute warm up, run 3 mins, walk 90 seconds, run 5 mins, walk 2.5 mins, run 3 mins, walk 90 seconds, run 5 mins, walk 5 mins to cool down. I confess that the idea of that first 5 minute run was daunting. However, for the first time ever, I hit what people call "their stride". That had never happened to me before. This is also when my "sixth sense" kicked in.

I see movement. I see it in patterns of people in crowded places, and in this instance, I saw movement by people who were not even there.

We were running at the track at Sheehan High School and what I saw was a flash mob event that would involve hundreds of people. Simultaneously a celebration of fitness and community, the flash mob I imagine would involve young and old. And in my head it is set to Fat Boy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now." I could see the whole event, both the gathering of participants and the invitation to watch, being communicated and promoted via social media (Facebook and Twitter for sure). Now all I have to do is get permission from John Gawlak to use the track!

Sometimes my "sixth sense" brings on a choreographic idea like this, and sometimes it is just an awareness of how other people move; how their bodies work, how the shape of their hips/knees/feet affects they way they sit, stand, walk. It doesn't happen all the time and it has been a while since it happened as viscerally as it did when I was running.

Paul and I will soon head out to accomplish the Week 4, Day 2 session of Couch to 5K. I wonder what will spring to mind today as I hit my stride.