Happy [Almost] National Running Day! 10 Running Confessions

June 2, 2015June 2, 2015 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

Tomorrow is National Running Day. So in honor of the [almost] holiday, here are 10 running confessions. After writing these, I now realize how slightly crazy I am.

[make your own National Running Day badge here]

Runners are indeed crazy. How many of these confessions can you relate to?

1. Stay away from me on days I don’t run. Day when I don’t run are really really really difficult. After getting injured, I know it’s important to take days off – but in my world, days off are on the elliptical or a long walk. You do not (I repeat- do not) want to be around me on days when I have no activity at all.

2. I’ve gotten used to porta potties, thanks to races. I realized this a few weeks ago when I was hiking with my family and the only bathrooms in the camping area were outhouse-like and I thought to myself, wow this is better than a porta potty.

3. I will wake up at an ungodly hour to run or get in some sort of workout. Especially if I’m traveling. When we went to Asia we had to be at the airport by 6 a.m. Meaning I woke up at 3:55 just to get in a quick workout before our super long plane ride.

4. [Warning, slightly gross] It has taken me years but I can finally run and spit – yes, I’m successfully not spitting on myself! But sadly, I have not yet mastered the running/snot rocket thing yet.

5. Whenever I see someone running and I’m not (I’m at work, in a car, etc.), I immediately feel jealous and guilty like I should be running even if I already worked out that day.

6. All NIKE, Gatorade, UnderArmour, [insert other brand here] running commercials give me chills. And then I must immediately go find them on YouTube and rewatch them over and over again.

7. Since getting injured training for my first marathon, I have no desire to do that again. I may be scared – or just stubborn – but I may never do a full.

8. I wish I had more running friends because I just want to travel to all the races and spend weekends seeing new cities and doing new half marathons. Who’s in?

9. I wish running were totally normal to do all the time. Like, as I’m walking places I often think that it would be so cool if we all just ran everywhere and nobody looked at us funny. How more efficient would it be if I could just run to all my meetings or run to dinner with friends? Or what about running meetings – instead of sitting all day, I’d love to have a running meeting or two.

10. It’s taken me about seven years (yes seven) to consider myself a runner. Have I run a full marathon? No. Am I fast? No. But I’m still a runner 🙂 (see 1-9 above)

[felt like i had to insert an awkward race photo here]

[felt like i had to insert an awkward half marathon race photo here]

Some questions for you:

Runners – how are you celebrating National Running Day tomorrow?
Can you relate to any of these confessions? What running confession would you add?
May be gross – but can you spit while running? Snot rocket? (I can’t believe I now have a blog post with the term snot rocket in here twice … now three times)

National Running Day!

June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

Happy National Running Day to all my runner and non-runner friends. It’s a great day, a day to remind us why we run, and to be grateful for the fact that we can, indeed run. Whether it’s running marathons, or doing our own run/walk around the block – we’re all runners and all deserve a day to celebrate.

The lake this morning during my run – peaceful and quiet

I kicked off my morning with an easy, unplanned 5 mile run around downtown, stopping to take photos at some of my favorite areas – the lake, the mall and of course the view.

Photo from my phone – view of downtown from my run

I ran with no music, no headphones (as I have been doing more and more) and just enjoyed the breeze, the cooler-than-normal weather and spent the whole time thinking about why I run. A few other bloggers are participating in the exercise (no pun intended) so I decided to contemplate my own personal reasons.

irun

WHY I RUN:

Because it keeps me sane. I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t run. Actually, B’s seen it. I do go crazy if I don’t go for a run.
Because it gives me “me time.” Yes, I know I’ve been running with friends more and more, but there’s still something nice about running alone – or even running with someone else – that allows you to clear your head, gather your thoughts, and just breathe.
It reminds me how lucky I am. Especially on the days that my legs are tired, feet are sore or shins are hurting, I realize how lucky I am that I can run. I am healthy, young and (somewhat) fit – and so grateful to be able to just lace up and go, wherever and whenever.
Because I love to bake. And eat. Most of the time I’m a pretty healthy eater. I love vegetables, love lean meats and fish and good-for-you fats (helllo avocados!). But I also have a sweet tooth and an addiction to baking (yes, in addition to my addiction to running). I know that running doesn’t help counteract all the bad things I put into my body but I like to think that even though I’m not the “typical size-0 runner” that non-runners think of, it keeps me less than the 500-lb person I’d probably be if I didn’t run. Oh, and running helps me crave the healthy foods. Most of the time, after a run, I love fueling my body with protein and vegetables – not sugary sweet treats.
Because it’s helped me form relationships. I’ve bonded with B’s sister over runs, and found time to connect with some other girls who live downtown based on running. We all live busy lives. We’re all different. But if you find someone who runs and find time to run with them, you form a relationship – and I’m so grateful for these friendships!

OK, enough cheesy running post. Cheers to National Running Day and I hope you go out and celebrate!

Happy National Running Day!

June 5, 2013June 5, 2013 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

Warning – this is a blog post about running. If you prefer to read my blog when I only post about food or fun stuff like that (hi mom!), please stop reading. For those that are interested … Happy National Running Day! In honor of the holiday – you get TWO blog posts from me today! (One about Buffalo chicken dip, and one about running) Because really – this is a holiday that I can celebrate. When I heard that there was going to be a lunchtime run downtown to celebrate, I wasn’t sure if I could make it. But I still wanted to get in on the festivities – and make my own – so my coworker Cari (who just moved downtown!) and I decided to finally go for a run together – before work – to celebrate! I ran a little over a mile route to get to her house, then we did 3 together and then I ran the little over a mile home. My Nike+ (yes I’m back on that bandwagon) said I did about 5.4, which keeps me right target for my weekly goal. AND considering last year at this time I was stuck in an aircast / walking boot and couldn’t celebrate at all I’m SO GRATEFUL that I could run this morning.

We were going to run around Browns Stadium but they were filming Captain America and I guess they didn’t want any extras running in the background.

There were balloons, streamers, noisemakers, party hats, and even fireworks to celebrate. Kidding!!! But wouldn’t that be awesome just the same? Instead we saw:

Security guards and the Captain America filming set
A man sitting on the side of the road who was missing some teeth. He told us to run fast and keep running far far away from Cleveland. Which was interesting.
Some guy run toward a moving car, which stopped and opened the door. As he was running, he dropped his shoe. Another runner picked up the shoe and ran after the guy – who ignored him the whole time. The runner finally dropped the shoe next to the car and left. WEIRD!

This was supposed to be an image of Cari at the beginning of our run – but who wants a pre-run 630 am photo of them online? So instead you get a photo of my current sneakers.

To celebrate, I’m sharing with you 5 things I LOVE about running:

Stress Relief! It clears my head and makes me feel a little less stressed out, etc. in this crazy world.
It’s a social, yet independent, sport. You can run with friends (like I did this morning) or run by yourself. You can run with or without music. You can join a running group or just lace up alone on the treadmill. It’s really what you make of it. I’ve sorta played group sports before (crew in high school and softball when I was a wee little girl) and as much as those are fun, it’s nice to not have anyone else reallllly relying on you. Most times – you are your own team. Can you tell I’m not a super competitive person?
It feels good! Yes, there are bad runs and runs where you don’t PR and don’t want to keep going – but for every bad run you have you will have 5 amazing runs. Yup – it’s math, trust me.
It’s good FOR me. I know the pounding of the pavement can take its toll – and it has before (remember those stress fractures?) – but running is a form of exercise and if I weren’t addicted to running I probably wouldn’t exercise!
I can run anywhere. Running doesn’t require any special equipment – really, you just need some sneakers and running clothes and you’re ready to go. Yes, a running headband, GPS watch, and so on are nice – but what other sports do you really not need any equipment or anyone else? I’ve gotten so much better about just bringing my sneakers and one set of running clothes with me when I travel – and find that even if I’m not somewhere with a gym, I can almost ALWAYS find somewhere to run.

seen on tumblr

So HAPPY NATIONAL RUNNING DAY! Hope it’s a fabulous one. Hope you get in an awesome run and eat lots of cookies to celebrate (Because what’s the point of a run without a cookie afterword?)

Some questions for you:

Did you run today? Plan to run? Did you join in a group run to celebrate?
Why do you like running?
What’s your favorite type of cookie? hard to decide … but i really do like white chocolate macadamia cookies!
Favorite post-run snack? most of the time it’s breakfast – egg whites, lentils and green beans.