running

It’s getting cold in the Carolinas.

| cheriarmour

And it’s horrible.  I’m horribly cold-blooded, and yesterday, it wasn’t cold enough for me not to run.  So I suited up before work, and did a quick few miles.

At some point, between 9 and 5, the temperature absolutely plummeted from kinda cold, to I-want-to-cry cold.  It kinda started sleeting, everyone in the area started driving like idiots, and I had never been more grateful for my short 10-minute commute.

I’d planned, before work, to go to the Zumba class of a ZES, a Zumbalebrity, charged with the task of licensing us teachers.  I’d never taken class with her, as I was licensed by the fabulous and now-retired Koh Herlong, but it was time.  I’ve seen her on the DVDs and on the video game, and it was time to see what she was all about.

But it was cold. And sleeting.  And I made the mistake of lying on the nap couch in my living room with Shahs of Sunset lulling me to sleep in the background. 

I woke up with a cat staring at me, and about 30 minutes until class started.  I asked myself a few questions.

  • Did you tell someone you’d meet them at class? (Yep, one of my students was meeting me with a pass to enter the gorgeous Lifetime Family Fitness, and I hate for people to regard me as a flake.
  • Did I feel physically capable of going?  (Yes.  I’d only run like two miles that morning, and I felt more than capable of dancing for an hour without hurting myself.)
  • Did I mentally feel like going? (Not really.  It was cold out.  And it was dark.  But if I didn’t go, I’d probably feel really bad, especially since I had no real reason to be playing hooky from the class.)

But I peeled myself off the couch, and I went.  And boy, am I glad I went.  Loretta is beautiful.  And not only was she beautiful, she’s not an education specialist for nothing.  Geez, this woman could teach her butt off, and she shared the stage with a few long-time students and teachers that she plucked from the crowd.

lorettabates

 

I’d be lying if I said working out has been easy since I started working in an office full-time.  It has been a constant struggle.  When I worked full-time at Fleet Feet, I didn’t generally have to be in until 9:45, and I was usually gone by 7:30.  I was surrounded by like-minded folks, who really put an emphasis on their health.  Now that I’ve entered the land of the office workers, not so much.  I’m largely alone in the fight to stay active, and it makes it hard to stay motivated.  Thankfully, I still work at the gym, and at the running store here and there, and it’s just enough to keep me motivated to keep doing what I’m doing.

As the holidays draw near, and everyone in the office starts bringing their holiday best, as far as meals go, the struggle to stay sexy is so real, but I am daily recommitting myself to not become some of the millions who become grownups….and gain 40 pounds.  But dang, it’s hard!

Thanks overload.

| cheriarmour

On Friday, I told you guys I was thankful for my brother.  Still am.  Kid is taking his SATs Saturday, so send him your good vibes, PS.

Saturday, I stepped outside of my house, and it literally smelled like a Yankee Candle, “Autumn Sunrise” or something.  I stood and sniffed the air for a few seconds before I had to be over at the stinky gym.  Scents just weren’t the same.  I am so thankful for beautiful weather here in NC in the fall.

On Sunday, I was extra grateful for that extra hour – it allowed me to wake up a little earlier, pour myself a mimosa, and go cheer on some friends in the City of Oaks Marathon – a move that would prove to be deadly, as, for some ungodly reason, I’m considering another one.  If I tell you guys I’m running another one before our wedding, slap the shit out of me.  I don’t have time to be running 20 miles on Sunday mornings right now.  Halfs (halves, idk!) are fine, fulls are off-limits.  Unless I get a really good deal on Rock n’ Roll Raleigh.  Ugh. What is wrong with me?

Today, I’m so grateful that I was able to lace up a pair of shoes and head out the door before work for a quick run.  It means that when I’m done with work, I’m DONE, and I get to go home and enjoy my evening, without the pressure of a looming workout standing between me and dinner.  It’s wonderful to get your assignments done before they’re actually due, huh?

This is to all the marathon spouses.

| cheriarmour

Time to shift the focus of the blog. There is someone I feel like deserves a great big hug, kiss, and a thank you from me.

And I think some of you marathoners out there have a similar person in your lives.

Saturday, as I barfed my way though the final 9 of my marathon, there was someone on my mind.  Austin had dropped me off in the freezing cold, held my things, and reassured me all morning as I worried in Elon.  I know it wasn’t warm, and he fielded two mid-marathon phone calls as I sobbed and told him that I was throwing up, in grotesque detail, with incredible strength and calm.

“Okay love you so much. You can do this”

“Almost there babe. Love you”

A few of the reassuring texts I received from him, not to mention the kind words he passed along as I called him from the port-a-john.  Yep.

I raise a glass to you, marathon spouses.  Those of you who encourage through training, show up for race day, hold all the stuff, jangle a cowbell, and act like you’re happy to see us, even though you’ve been waiting in the cold, bored for hours?  We love you.  We appreciate you.  And we can’t wait for the day when we can do the same for you.

kiss

Time to have some fun! #runchat

| cheriarmour

In the comments below, on Facebook, or on Twitter answer me this.

What should I think about on tomorrows long beautiful run? I’ll do my best do think about it and address it in a little post next week.  

The first order of thinking business will be about food.  That’s all I’ve got so far. 

Weather Obsession

| cheriarmour

Marathons are very much like weddings in that you do this…thing.

You check the weather incessantly, smiling when it looks good (about 10 days out), and progressively getting more anxious as you realize that things aren’t going to go the way you planned. That’s so life right?

You have to understand where I’m coming from here though. There was a point during training where I was running, in the mountains of Pennsylvania on a 94-degree day with like 77% humidity. I never dried off that day, btws. Never for a second did I think that I’d be crossing the start line in Greensboro with a starting temp of 32 degrees.

Weather

Of course, there are a few conflicting reports on what temp we’re starting in, but the truth is, it’s gonna be effing cold.

No matter, it’s off to the running store I go tonight. Objective? A better pair of gloves that actually fit my limbs, and those little hot hands thingies to stick in my gloves while we’re just chilling and waiting around for the gun to go off. And it’s time (now two days away) to plan a good outfit.

3 Days. (Question for my running buds.)

| cheriarmour

3 days until the Greensboro marathon.  I suppose it’s time to start making my list, my pyscho list of all the things I need.

But before then, I have a serious question.

It’s really quite horrid.

But last marathon, I wasted almost 10 minutes looking for a bathroom, and then executing the bidness, because port-a-potties horrify me in all sorts of ways.

There are a few precautions I can take to make sure this doesn’t happen. Like caffeine-free gels and Gus, or saving the caffeine for the very end so it barely matters.  But I saw a tip a few issues of Runner’s World back that recommended pounding a shot of Imodium before the big day.

imodium-coupon

For some reason, this really concerns me.  I don’t want to like, stop my body’s natural reaction to all the jostling, the nerves and the nutrition, but is it worth it to spare me a trip to the gross bathrooms and shave a little bit off my time?

 

Bull City Race Fest: A Review

| cheriarmour

I think today actually feels like the first day of fall I’ve felt since fall started almost a month ago.  I write to you from my apartment, zipped into a jacket, toes freezing, with that weird burny smell coming from the heat because I’ve barely used it yet.

Today, I participated in the Bull City Race Fest, Endurance Magazine’s race festival.  It was a fun way to get in a few miles in before next week’s 26.2 (eek) which looms at just about 5 days away now.

I was terrified.  I haven’t raced since the spring, and even though this was a 5-miler, nothing scary, and nothing I haven’ t done before, but getting back into it felt kind of like I was running a first race all over again.

Medal

The race featured a 1-miler, a 5-miler, and a 13.1, all winding through Durham, about 25 minutes from where I live in Raleigh.

  • The Improvements:  I don’t want to say “the bad” because there was really nothing bad about this race, especially for an inaugural year, which usually is a mess.  The only thing that kind of caught me off-guard, which could have been my fault, was that I was not 100% clear that the 5-miler didn’t finish where we started.  So, when I finished, I wasn’t aware to tell friends that I’d finished and I was on Duke University’s campus.  No big deal.
  • The traffic.  Almost 6,000 folks ran, and it created some congestion on the course.  I’m a little concerned for next year, which I’m sure will be bigger, especially if they keep it up with all the food trucks.

The Awesome:

  • The race was extremely well-organized.  The expo, the refreshments, the buses to transport us from the 5-miler line back to the start, everything seemed to come together pretty well.
  • The food trucks.  The race ended with a food truck rodeo that was pretty cool.  By the time we got to the trucks, literally every single truck was out of coffee, which would have been nice, especially considering the cold, but my breakfast biscuit and hash brown patty was tasting so right to my senses.
  • Packet pick-up.  Nice.  No complaints here.

    • And unrelated, it was good to see a ton of friends at the race from Raleigh and Durham, and I felt super lucky to run into some coworkers, one of whom won the whole dang thing, and two of whom were running their first half-marathons. How cool to witness that experience for someone else!

Don’t do this annoying thing. Please?

| cheriarmour

I cannot stress enough the importance of going to a running specialty store and getting a proper shoe fitting.  You may think you’re getting some kind of steal online or at Dick’s, but if you don’t know what you’re looking for, or if you’re buying a model that’s three cycles old and already breaking down, you’ve kind of screwed yourself.  If you’re getting a pair of sneaks for like $54, you might be making a mistake.  Not you might, let me stop with this passive language.  Something isn’t right.

Okay so anyways, I love working in running retail.  It’s exciting.  The technology is always changing.  It’s interesting.  And working around all those runners is truly inspiring.  They’re cool peoples.

But contrary to what a lot of people thought, we don’t make commission selling running shoes.  And we like it like that.  It keeps our motivations clean and honest.  But there was one thing that was so annoying, I could rip my own hair out. 

Let me make this clear.  We never minded if you went through the process to get a fitting and decided you weren’t ready to buy anything.  That’s fine, and that’s what the whole process of “shopping” is about.  Go home, think about it, maybe read up on it, and decide if that’s what you want to do.

But when folks would come in, get fitted, and tell us, usually at the end of the process, that they were going to go see if they could find the shoe online cheaper, and snap a iPhone pic of the box, complete with the name of the shoe and style number? My blood would boil.

Why this is Problematic

  • I understand everyone is looking for a deal.  I get it.   I have student loans, and I have to limit my fancy times to stay afloat.  But this isn’t Best Buy, and you’re not going to really find the exact same model any cheaper.  You might find an older model, and that’s not gonna be the same as the shoe you tried on.
  • You’re not paying taxes in some states (well not up until recently).  Sorta shady.
  • We just provided you a service, and you took the service elsewhere.  That kinda sucks.  Would you like it if I did that to you?
  • It’s just kinda not nice.

If you’re at the place where you feel like you need to do this, do a few things.  Be upfront with the person helping you, and understand, that there’s probably no way you will find the same model for cheaper.

Quick Example and I’ll let you go. 

The Brooks Glycerin 11 retails for $150.  In-store, and on Zappos.

Glycerin

What you will find online for cheaper?

Glycerin 10

The Brooks Glycerin 10, which is pretty different.  It was heavier, and it still had the plastic piece in the middle, which is called the midfoot shank.  If you were to try the 11 on in the store and purchase the 10, you’d be pissed.

Anyhoo, just be NICE and don’t do that annoying thing, okay?

Job Search.

| cheriarmour

Running came to me at a really….tumultuous time in my life.

I graduated from NC State University in 2011 with my Masters.  I was a Social Worker!  Werk, right?  Wrong, kinda.

I spent the next like, year, searching high and low for a job that would apply, even vaguely, to what I’d spent years studying.  And thus, began the infamous job search, and by default, how I became a marathoner.  Running kept me from tearing all my hair out, one loc by one, each time I went through the following process, one that would take you from hopeful -> despondent in a matter of weeks.

The black hole.

I started, like any job-searching dumbass, by applying for jobs using those online forms.  Then I’d get really, really, really upset when I never heard anything for like 100 years from whatever agency it was.  It completely escapes me why any agency/company would utilize these forms when it’s pretty clear to me that a million people apply using these things, and not a single one of them gets a call back.  The key, I found, was filling into the form, exactly what the form wanted to hear.

The courtship. 

Once I started figuring out the system, there was these incredible awkward experience called “the phone interview” that would befall me.  Here’s how it would go down.  You schedule a time with an interviewer, usually over email, to do the interview.  Say it’s like at 8:30 am.  You’ll do what you’re supposed to, find a nice, quiet place, and sit with your phone, waiting on this call.  Usually the interviewer won’t bother to call until 8:36.  This means that you will have been staring at your phone, on high-alert, for 6 minutes.  The phone rings.  And your heart jumps out of your chest.  Usually, at this point, you’re all, how the eff am I going to answer this, and sound professional?  I know!  I’ll use my racially ambiguous voice for this one!

“This is Cheri!”

So I’d chirp through the entire phone interview.  I’d usually fly through this part.

Froyo

The in-person.

After I’d nail the phone interview, it was time for the in-person interview.  Stress city.  This was the tricky part.  What do I wear.  Ugh, is my natural hair a little too “ethnic” for the position?  Too late, it’s nearly 10 years in the making.   What if I don’t look like what my voice sounds like? Have I done enough research on the company?  What might they ask?  What do I say when they ask if I have any questions.

The Break-Up

This, by far, was one of the most emotionally damaging parts of the entire search process.  You’d do the interview.  And you never really know how you did.  There’s the wait.  And then you sense that you’re about to be broken up with. There’s the email break up, days after you’ve sent your stupid thank-you note.  And the email reads like this.

Cheri,

I wanted to let you know how AWESOME I think you are.  You’ve been such an asset to this company in the capacity that you work in, and you’re SO good at what you do, we want to KEEP YOU THERE!  That’s right, we went with this other guy for the position that you interviewed 3 times for! (Sorry about the humiliation!)

I know it seemed like the interview went really well, and we even showed you where your future office was going to be to tease you, but we really really, really wanted to fool with your emotions, that way, when you open this email, you’re absolutely sure to burst into tears.  Hope to embarrassingly see you around the office!

Awk

Oh. Gonna drink anything that’s a liquid now.

This happened to me really too many times for me to recount, and in the most painful, and humiliating off ways.  I’m not lying, once I was interviewed like three times for a position, and I didn’t get it.  Once, in a lunch interview, one of the guys interviewing me asked me how I do my hair when I run.  I believe he was just intrigued by my locs.  I didn’t get that job, and I found that out when I called the woman in the interview back after she’d left me a chirpy sounding email.  I was pumped! She’d called, all happy, to let me know that they’d given the job to some guy, who ended up resigning a few months later.

The Resolution

All of this was eased by a few things.  I never really accepted the situation, and it would be a lie to claim I had.  That might have made things a little easier, but my parents are successful, my friends are successful, and I compared myself to that.  Plus I have student loans to pay off.  But what did make it a little easier was Fleet Feet, running and generally working off the jobless anxiety, and eventually finding a job in my field.

I’ll leave you with the one and only Job Search Tip that you’ll need.

You guys know all the tips.  Your resume is top-notch, you have degrees, and you’re qualified,  In the time when you’re unemployed or underemployed, be good to yourself.  Work out.  You’ve got more time than most working people, so take advantage of it.  Go the the gym.   Do some yoga.  It’ll render you a little more ready to take on your situation, plus, you’ll have a 6-pack and look like a friggin supermodel when you actually do get an interview.  It’s tempting to sit around and gain 1000 lbs while going through this, but don’t let this process win.  And when you do experience rejection, and you will, chalk it up to another frustrating experience.  You know there are better things out there for you.