All of us runners are a bit mad, that’s established. That’s okay with me…I’ll share the madness that ran through my mind while my feet were doing what they do this morning.
Right outside my house a pair of running shoes are dangled from a telephone wire. I’ve never understood how a pair of shoes winds up there. It seems to always happen at night, so do people come back from a party, rip off their shoes because their feet are hot, lace them together and chuck them up there? Obviously they couldn’t be runners, because they would have had more respect for their shoes.
Game of sixes. I play this little game of luck in my head; on one of my usual routes I pass through six cross-streets that tend to be busy but don’t have an actual stop light or stop sign thing. I get a little anxious approaching because I DO NOT want to have to stop for any cars; the more times I can make it through each cross-street the ‘luckier’ I am that day. Forget fortune cookies, this is tons better.
The thankless job is that runners ARE thankful for. I passed the poor sap who’s job it is to unload those port-a-potties. I caught I nice whiff; I did a little mental ‘thank you’ to him…I’m sure he got it.
Your blinker was on IDIOT!! In one of those cross-streets this car had their right turn blinker on…so obviously I assumed they were turning and I wouldn’t be impeding their way. Guess not, horn blared, but I didn’t feel bad…c’mon, your blinker was on.
Retro-wear. Finishing my run there is a guy rocking an old-school sweat band; white with a blue strip. Good old terry-cloth headband. Do people legit wear those anymore, I mean where do they buy them?
What’s the craziness that rolled through your brain on your last run?
1) Do you play any games of ‘luck’ when it comes to stop lights or cross-streets?
2) Have you actually ever SEEN a pair of shoes get it to the top of a telephone wire?
I have no throwing arm, so I’m always slightly in awe of whoever could chuck them up there.
3) Ever work in sewage or construction where your job was the port-a-potty detail? How often do you guys actually do the maintenance?
4) Last song stuck in your head during a run?
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Ha, my Dad still wears those old fashioned sweatbands. I’m not sure if they still make them but he has them from years ago and still rocks them out when he knows he’s gonna work hard.
I often get songs stuck in my head while running but by the time the run is over its gone and I can’t even remember what song it was.
I love all the random things that pass through your mind while running, if we could record them, I bet it would be pretty funny to go back and listen.
i soo wish we could just do a book or audio file of ‘random runner thoughts’…just do clips of the weird things that go thru our brains! 🙂
Running thoughts are great! And, being the porta potty guy is totally a thankless job, and a pretty gross one!
I have one stoplight that I rarely make it through, whether I’m running, biking, or driving. When I do make it, it’s a good day!
haha…another ‘lucky’ stoplight game player. 🙂
I love timing those light, and play a little game of fartlek, trying to time my pace so that I sometimes slow down but then speed up to catch a green.
And what the hell is the story with those sneakers on the wires? Never got that?
I get paid good money to clean port-a-potties.
sweeeett!! i’ve got a port-a-potty hook up!! cuuuz, i’ve got a few that u’ve been slacking on. 😉
“gangnam style” was stuck in my head the last time I went for a run. It’s just not that fun without the dancing…
hahaha…sooo, did u want to cut some moves mid-run?? 😉
My mind is on random fastforward when running too 🙂 I loved reading this post and what was running through your mind while your feet were running on the ground. I have never seen a pair of shoes on a wire (how?!) but agree that cars which indicate and then don’t turn – seriously annoying!
haha…i enjoy reading wat other runners think about too! it’s usually a collection of randomness!
I think I need to start thinking about stuff when I run!! hahaha, I really think my mind is blank and I’m just tryna tell myself to put one foot in front of the other until I reach a certain mile goal!
i’ve gone thru runs where i get home and think, “wait, did i just space out that whole time, how did i make it home?!” lol…hey, sometimes a blank mine is fine if it gets u thru the miles! 🙂
He he. You are funny and so sweet for thinking of the porta potty guy. I don’t run by any except for in races but yeah – THANK GOODNESS for the porta potties and the porta potty guys!
We have quite a few shoes over the wire in our local area… actually I thought they symbolised something but I may be way off. I’m with you – in total awe of how the hell someone got them up there. I may have runners legs but I have MUPPET ARMS! :=)
muppet arms!!! hahaha…i luv that one! i used to get called hummingbird wing arms. 😛
I never thought about the poor guys who have to unload them! Oh my gosh. I play with the cracks in the road – not original, but very obsessive!
I often wonder about those shoes too. I wonder if it’s a secret society code somewhere in the world?
maybe that’s it…the underground society of shoe chuckers. let’s go all davinci code on them. 😉
I have a girlfriend that started her own porta potty company!!! You would not believe how WELL her company does!!! Plus, she is SO cute you would never believe she did that for a living! lol
no flipping WAY!! that is insane, but i luv it!! hahaha…well power to her and pass along my thanks!
Every time I run lately I am concentrating on form. I am trying to break out of years of heel striking thanks to the insane cushioning we are provided. I am also keeping a mental check on my knee, which is recovering from some brutal downhills during Tough Mudder. I do, however, dread crossing streets flew the same reason; stopping is the easiest way to break out of “the zone”.
As for shoes hung up… You may want to keep an eye out for suspicious activity outside your house 😉
way to GO!! focusing on form, talk about being productive during that run…keep up the awesome job and get that perfect stride. 🙂
Sometimes I come up with the greater ideas while running but then end up forgetting then by the time I’m done. Those shoes are a sign that there’s somone selling weed nearby sometimes other drugs too.
oh my gosh, can we just say i’m outed as a totally naive runnerchick. guess my neighbors are in the biz…thanks for tell me!
I love running ideas 🙂 lol and I have seen a lot of shoes on telephone poles, over wires and the like. I always wonder why they’re up there 😉
running ideas are the best ideas! 🙂
I will either have songs stuck in my head and keep thinking of the lyrics or have really sporadic thoughts. The sporadic thoughts are the best though – sometimes none of them make sense and I’ll get home and be totally confused at what I was even thinking about.
I have seen shoes on power lines! Usually I just laugh. The songs I get stuck in my head are usually ones that annoy me. Go figure!
me too…why is it the worst songs get stuck on repeat in my mind?!?!
I have to say, I HAVE seen shoes thrown over electric wires! It was when I lived in the getto though – not where I live now! LOL. (Does you live in the getto?!? 😉 ) I have NO clue why they do that. It’s quite funny right?!?!?
hahaha….guess the general consensus is i need to move. 😉
The eternal question in my mind when I look up at our telephone poles too! No idea why or how.
Last thoughts in my head – oh please treadmill don’t overheat, no please! Just made it to the end of my 1K repeats before it decided to quit on me. Hopefully Dad can wield his magic repairman skills and fix it up….
I love the crossroads game, totally going to thing of that tomorrow when I head out for a road run!
Last song stuck in my head (hangs head in shame and speaks in small voice) Justin Bieber….
Please still be my friend?
OH NO!!! is ur tready okay?!? i sure hope ur dad fixes it, but u have to admit, how cool is it to be able to say, “i ran so hard i broke my treadmill”! 😉
hahaha…don’t even feel bad, i’ve had the biebs stuck in my head before. and i’ll say it outright, i luv me my miley cyrus!!
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