Top Eleven List

Those of you who don't run are smart.  Because in the midst of the long humidity and heat wave we are having in the East, running isn't a whole lot of fun for me.  It is actually a lot less than a lot of fun.  It pretty much sucks.  To someone who claims to love running in this weather, I say, "YOU LIE!".  Or else, good for you, but secretly, you make me want to never speak to you again.  This weather really makes me want to never come out of my house again, and I don't even have central air, just two crappy window units that make an awful racket (if anyone help me out with this a/c noise issue, let me know).

However, a poor attitude about running won't get me very far, in fact, it won't get me out of bed.  And if I am indeed going to make it through the NYC Marathon Training, and the event itself, I need to, at a minimum, get out of bed.  So, I am trying to be more positive.  It isn't easy, especially because negative feelings are natural and it is important to be able to express them from time to time.  I am not sure that it is possible, or even really healthy, to be all-positive, all the time.  However, it does seem to help to have positive thoughts when you have to get up at the crack of dawn to run in weather that is so hot and steamy you feel like you are the Wicked Witch of the West.  Instead of thinking, "Oh my gosh, why the feck am I doing this?" or,  "This is just cray-cray!" or, "Am I running in Hell?",  I've been trying to replace those kind of thoughts with more positive, or at least more humorous thoughts.   It is actually amusing to try to think up things to post on facebook (or now on my little old blog) that might be funny or mildly amusing to others.  So in that vein, I present you with my Top Eleven List*:  THINGS I APPRECIATED ABOUT TODAY'S HOT AND HUMID LONG RUN.  

Please read it in the style of David Letterman:

11. - Chirping birdies (they are so cheerful even in the heat, those little buggers).
10.  - Shade.  From trees, buildings, passing garbage trucks, faster runners, etc.
9.  - Sprinklers (and I especially thank the guy who didn't yell at me for running across his lawn so I could go through it as he was setting it up).
8. - Cute doggies out for their morning walks, aww.  Cute doggies, anytime are appreciated.  Aww.
7. - That I did not have the need to use any porta-potties.  I know that day will come, but I am glad it wasn't today. 
6. - Several attractive male runners without shirts passing me ("How YOU doin'?").
5. - Water fountains, even the one that the cute doggy used right before I did, no lie.  A big poodle mix with his front paws up on the fountain.  But I used it anyway.  Probably no worse than any human germs. 
4. - The Sunscreen Song (Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann).  Look it up, it gives some good advice, and you can try to memorize it and recite it as you run, possibly to annoy other runners or make them think you are yelling random words at them, or that you are crazy!
3. - The slight breeze that kicked up on the way back to my house.  I did appreciate that.
2. - That the last eighth of a mile was downhill.  I REALLY appreciated that. 

And the number one Top Eleven "Thing I Appreciated About Today's Hot and Humid Long Run":
 

1. - That I did it and I finished and that I don't have to do another long run til next weekend! Woo hoo!

 

* Did not want to totally rip off  David Letterman, because I am sure he will eventually hear about my blog and want to interview me.