Friday's Letters; The Running Edition

My new favorite blog post to write is Friday's Letters. I get to jot down random thoughts and rants about anything and everything that pops into my head and it's so much fun to write.

Today it's the Running Edition. I composed the following letters while on a 5 mile run on this lovely trail near my house:

Dear Bikers on Trail, 

Just in case no one has ever told you the etiquette when sharing a path with other bikers and runners; please pass on the left but more importantly, please, please, please tell the person in front of you that you are passing. You might want to say it loudly enough to be heard, and give the passee enough time to process it, when you're about 15-20 feet away.

Said in a different way: W.T.F? Did you just whisper 'on your left' 2 seconds before you were on me? Scaring the bejeezus out of me?? My heart rate didn't need to jump 50 beats in 2 seconds. I don't know about you, but when I'm running (or what passes as running for me)... I am probably zoned out and thinking of anything but what's going on around me. I can't be held responsible if I suddenly veer into your path, taking you out because you thought I was paying attention to what was behind me. Rant over. Here's a funny to lighten the mood:

What I strive for on each run:

This is probably more true to life:

Dear Kids,

If you think you won't ever use math again in your life, think again. If you ever want to build something, you'll need math. If you ever want to distract yourself (from the awfulness that is running) with figuring out your mph on a run, you'll need math. And you'll want to distract yourself. Trust me on this one.

Dear Universe,

Have you ever heard the saying 'Be Careful What You Wish For', and it's variant, 'I wished for XYZ, and I should've been more specific'? Well, this should be tattooed on me so I don't forget it. I wished for a more temperate climate, and got it, but also got HILLS! Good grief, Maryland is hilly. So, it's nice enough earlier in the season to get outside and exercise, but the hills are going to kill me.

Dear Self, 

You know better than to even think of patting yourself on the back. You know what happens when you do. Something goes wrong. And you have to redo it. And it might have involved math…calculated incorrectly. (Pay attention Kids.) This has nothing to do with running, unless you consider that maybe I was unable to do the math because I was dehydrated from running?

I swear I measured. Math. Sigh. In case you're wondering - the top should overhang, not underhang.

Dear Joints, 

Thank you for your continued support; we're almost there. I will keep my promise to stop running if you can just do this last little race with me. However, I need to pull Calves into this discussion. Calves, you've been my best muscle group ever. No matter what I throw at you, you've taken it in stride. Until now. Now you decide to seize on me while running. C'mon now! We've done this before; we can do it again. And you do not get a reprieve after this half marathon - you'll continue to be pressed into service, so do what you need to do but don't think I won't put you in a weight machine and work you just as hard as running hills does; maybe even harder because I'm feeling a little vengeful.

Dear GPS Watch,

Why is it that I go out 2.5 miles, turn around and it takes longer to make it 2.5 miles on the way back? On the same route in reverse? When I calculated it perfectly to avoid that hill at the end?? This isn't even me doing the calculations; it's a satellite watch! It should be correct. Sigh.

And there you have it. Hope I've made you laugh a little :)

Linking up here: