I feel like I’ve been voted off the island.
Last weekend, I could still jog whenever I saw other people on the trail – which was frequent. Then I walked when no one was looking. I made it 5 miles and even passed a couple other joggers along the way. I was happy. Then I was sore for days.
Despite my greatest aspirations to run until the day I delivered, I think that I’ve crossed over the line of doing more damage (to me – not the fetus) than good, so today I walked. Unfortunately, my 8-months-pregnant belly is not yet bigger than my pride, so I’m a little sad to be out of the club.
You’ve probably noticed that runners typically acknowledge an oncoming runner with a quick wave or grunt or something…anything. At 3-years-old, my daughter even noticed that runners generally acknowledge one another in passing with a quick greeting: “Hi!”, “Good morning!”, or “Nice day!” “How about 'Macaroni and Cheese'?” she suggests. So for the rest of that day we said “Macaroni and Cheese” to each person we passed.
It seems, however, as soon as you are a “walker” you become invisible to these other runners. I’ve now noticed this phenomenon at different times and in different places, with and without my jogging stroller, and whether or not I attempt to greet them first. Have you noticed this?
I can’t remember specifically, but I only hope that when I was out running miles and miles, I gave an equal-opportunity grunt to runners and walkers alike.
1 comment:
Okay, Jen. You have me consumed by this question on each run. I've only been running without the jogger the past week, so I can't say how the jogger influences interaction. After a week of "research," here are my findings: Last Friday I set out to count the percentage of walkers and the percentage of runners who greeted me as I ran along the boardwalk. I got to about 5 out of 18 walkers returned my greeting (hand wave) and 12 out of 20 runners returned my greeting. I was in the middle of calculations when a group of about 30 hot, bare-chested guys (I'm thinking special ops guys) came running at me all at one time. I promtly forgot my research numbers and wanted to cry out, "Thank you for making the 6 o'clock hour a beautiful one!" I only wish they ran every morning at that time. Okay, so I was a bit distracted and forgot where I was in my counting. But I must admit, I was in a good mood for the remainder of my run.
My takeaways:
1-Walkers didn't really pay attention to anyone. They weren't a greeting group. Most were consumed in their iPods or talking to their partners.
2-There did seem to be a bit of a difference between those "on a walk" vs those "walking." Those "walking" were more inclined to look my way and return my greeting.
3-The "regulars" all greeted me. Except for the two ladies who always seem pissed while they are walking.
4-The boardwalk is not a very friendly place to run. Perhaps it is because it is so wide, so you aren't right up on someone when you pass them.
5-I intend on running every Friday morning around 6:30am at the King Neptune statue in hopes that I see my pack of hotties running again.:)
I'll do another research check when I have my jogger with me.
Nora
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