Thursday, September 9, 2010

runners. whirled.

i went running the other day.

it's what i do sometimes
after i don't leave the
house all day.
makes me feel productive
and then forces me to
shower.

i am not a
professional runner,
but i can run like 5 miles
and not feel like i am
going to die
or pass out.

and i can still apply mascara
afterward.

NOT like that time i went
running with vikki
in canada while she
was training for her marathon
and i was like,
six miles?
oh suuuuure...

i mean, i HAD
tied for fastest girl mile
in the 5th grade -
(time: 8 min 34 sec - truth.)

sure, i can run
six of those.


and i did.

and we saw foxes.
and in my memory, the
foxes chased us down
the canadian road.

but we outran them.

but maybe that didn't happen.

like that time i
remember our mom
dancing with minister tom
in our family room.

she says that never happened.

vikki seems to remember
the foxes.

so i ran the six miles
like a champ.

but then i couldn't move.
well, i could.

but i couldn't put on my
mascara.

my hands shook.

and we didn't go out to
dinner that night.

vikki ate from the vending machine
and i watched 20/20 while
lying on her bed.

typical friday night
in mississauga
circa july 2000.


but i can run NOW.
and i do.

and i went running the other day
and there was this
very TALL man
running in front of me.
and his stride was so
LONG and it kind of looked
like he was marching.

and i thought to myself
"i bet he read runners' world
before he ran today
because he seems to be
trying a new technique."

or maybe that's how he always
runs. because of his
LONG, gigantic legs.

but i passed him.

not really because i was
trying. but maybe because
i had had a nice
cup of cold coffee before
lacing up.

so i passed him.
and kept going.

and then i kept thinking
i heard him
behind me.
but i wasn't sure.

and i didn't want to look,
because i prolly would
have tripped,
or his knee would
have hit me in the face.

so i kept going.

and i convinced myself
that maybe my
music had the sound
of long legged foot patters
in the beat.

and like a mile later,
i got to a stoplight.
and was waiting for the
light to change so i could
cross the street

and then there tall man was.
right behind me!

but he kept going straight.

and as he passed, he said
"thanks for the push."

and he kind of smiled.

and i smiled.


and for like one of the
first times ever,

i felt...
like an athlete.



but then i started to get
paranoid.

wait...had i ACTUALLY PUSHED HIM?
was that a SMIRK?

i mean i WAS listening
to foo fighters 'overdrive'
and i WAS very in my head
and jacked up on caffeine

had i PUSHED tall man
out of my WAY
and not even NOTICED?


hmm...

so then i felt like a
cheating athlete.

and actually,
it still felt

really.

good.