I Read Minds – What We Can Learn From People Doing Crazy Things

If you’re like me you love to people watch and often wonder what in the world people are doing or thinking sometimes. We could just ask them, but I think it’s better to come up with our own answers. And maybe, just maybe there are things we can glean from these folks…even if they are only tiny nuggets hidden in there.

* The guy grunting like a gorilla while doing squats. We really shouldn’t blame him, he’s been having a rough go as of late. His ‘roid dealer has been out of town and his supplies are wearing thin, so this weight load is feeling a LOT harder than it did last week. On top of that some roaches broke into his protein powder…was that a crunch he got on that last swig? Lesson: He’s smart and remember to refuel within 30 minutes of his workout…I’d go sans weevils and roaches though, there are better sources of protein.

* Jerk who just cut in front of you in the port-a-pot line at the race. Do they really think we didn’t notice that, really now? We’ll play along and give them the benefit of the doubt in that maybe they are on the verge of wetting themselves. They were guzzling those free Gatorade samples like they’d just come through the desert on a horse with no name. Though in the future they may want to remember this is only a 5k in the middle of December and all that liquid isn’t exactly necessary. Lesson: Yes, hydration is important, but the amount depends on the race distance and especially the conditions. If you’re in the middle of winter and you’re running a 5k race you probably want to cut the liquids 30 minutes out unless it’s little sips. Also, you can skip actually drinking during the event unless it’s being run at the Equator. Going in water/drink-logged can actually slow you down and give you cramps.

* Man you’re approaching while running who won’t let you pass. This is on the DEFCON Red level of annoyance if you’re a girl and I’m sure you’ve been there. I can say though even if you’re a guy and you find a slower-paced runner who refuses to acknowledge they are slower would be irksome. Obviously this runner is having ego problems, his girlfriend just dumped him and she’s going to be racing the Olympic Marathon Trials in January. You, a fast female, touched a bit of a raw nerve and he’s got something to prove…it’s not an excuse but at least we can feel sorry for him as he pants like the annoying dog he his. Lesson: This case is excruciatingly annoying, but if you’re running an easy day and you get sucked into purposely going harder to drop this guy it could end up biting you in the butt. Recovery days are important, so maybe try to cross to the other side of the street or go another route to avoid getting sucked into dropping the 6 minute miles. If it’s a race, elbow his butt to the side and put that guy in his place.

* The person who continually tells you how ‘lucky’ you are to be so slim and eat like a trucker and asks for the secrets; she is perpetually wanting to lose the same 10 pounds. The people who complain about this but avoid any kind of physical exertion like the plague do hit a nerve; it’s because you could tell them the same thing all the time but without their motivation to do it you could just be talking to the wall. While we could say, “I just ran for 90 minutes and lifted weights…it’s not luck I bust my @$$,” what this person is really thinking is, “Ugh, the pattern on her shirt is really dorky, this cookie tastes like poop but oh well I’ll have another. I need to vent to this thin person about how much I would like the scale to be lower, but I don’t actually want to do anything about it. I just need to vent.” Lesson: Sometimes people ask the same questions all the time and don’t really want an answer. Sometimes they DO want an answer and will put it to good use. It takes internal motivation to reach for our goals and you can’t teach that or make someone do it unless they want to. I am always happy to offer up advice but I do it once and drop it if they reeeeeaally don’t want to listen. 😛

1) Do you have people like this you’ve seen in your daily lives?

2) I think we all have bad days and at times this can lead us to act and do things that are just plain out of character and we’d usually not act like that. I do try to give people slack and like to think that if they’re being rude then maybe it’s just a bad day…I know I have them. BUT, who’s the last person that you really think deserved a swift kick in the tootie?

3) Back to self-motivation, when people ask you ‘how’ you keep running every day what do you tell them?
I just don’t like myself when I don’t.