Running as My Commute

Meant to blog last night, but I still haven't bitten the bullet and bought a new computer charger so have only been able to get my battery fix every once in a while when my roommate isn't using hers. I realized I have a serious money spending problem so have tried to rein in the spending, but unfortunately I've only been successful at not buying important things (battery charger, food, a mattress, to name a few...). Anyway, my computer had something like a 6% charge last night and I was rocking a bit of a buzz so blogging didn't happen. Something insane and monumental that did happen? The express train moved faster than the local. This is serious news, folks. A cold day in Hell, if you will. I also pulled the as-hole move of shoving half my body between the closing doors, thereby preventing them from shutting. What can I say? Blame the buzz. I have to admit it gave me kind of a rush (my life is so interesting). And big black marks on my shirt.

Speaking of my shirt, it's new (spending problem). Those cheap discount websites are like crack. I never used to buy clothes, but ever since I discovered them I've been on an endless spending spree. It's embarrassing actually, since my roommates are always the people to receive the packages so know how much sh-t I'm buying. I feel like a spoiled brat. But no worries, I don't really have enough money to buy these things. This is the semi-ridiculous trippy shirt I bought a while ago and forgot about until I found the package sitting outside my room:


I actually really like it, except the fact that it's so long (why does everyone do that?! I'm mostly looking at you, Lululemon. Not everyone has 40-foot-long torsos). The gnome-tree tumor thing was designed back in the sixties (duh). There were a couple of other shirts with different designs that I really wanted, but times are tough and sometimes you just can't afford another $10 shirt. Also, this shirt claims to be 85% polyester and 15% something else with a techie name. I call bullsh-t. It feels suspiciously like cotton, although I have to admit that the sweat dried pretty quickly.

Anyway, my commute home was ridiculous. I was wearing the clothes I ran in that morning


plus a black skirt. There was a time when I cared about looking New York-y, but that time is long gone. Now I'm full-on weirdo all the time. It draws some looks, but at least I'm not in the Vibrams anymore! Those really set people off. Even my friends. Especially my friends.

I did my 30-minute tempo run yesterday morning along the usual route (up 1st Ave, basically), and it went well. It's pretty nice when two-thirds of your run consists of a warm-up/cool-down. It felt good to push it, but only for a mile or so because let's face it, I don't like pain. It didn't feel good to have no idea how far I went and what speed I was doing it at. My phone better get its act together for tomorrow's 8-miler, although I can already say it won't. Damn you, logic!

I'm over the moon (is that the right expression? I suck at idioms) about the decreasing temperature. Finally, after probably 6 months of frying in hellish Hell-weather from Hell, I feel comfortable being outside. No joke. Heat and humidity rank right up there with, well, dying, as things I hate the most. Give me a choice between 30 below and 80 and I'll choose the former every time. You think I'm kidding, but I don't kid about things this serious.

As it gets colder, however, I'm encountering kind of a unique problem, mainly my commute home. I love the cold, don't get me wrong, but I'm not superwoman (although maybe someday I'll change things up and try to rock this look). I won't always be able to walk to the subway in a tank top. At some point, I will feel cold. Very cold. But since I use my morning commute to do my run, I can only carry whatever fits in my tiny backpack,

I thought that arrow would be more obvious.

which tends to be my work clothes and not a warm and sensible jacket. I could bring a stash of jackets to work on Monday, a rest day, but I only own two jackets, one of which I have to wear home Monday. So I guess that leaves me with nothing. I'm so glad I could talk through this with myself. All you Russians from domar.ru, any suggestions? Any future readers? Does anyone else deal with this? There is about a .00001% chance of me doing my morning run and then commuting, so I need to find a way to make this work.

The super secret awesome Mike Birbiglia/Ira Glass movie I watched Wednesday night made it into Sundance! Congratulations to them!

Apparently one of my roommates has a mega-Christmas day planned tomorrow, so I need to start drumming up some festiveness. I'm wearing a green sweater today, so I guess that works.

-Jeano

I Wonder if Ira Glass Would Go Running With Me...

Okay, screw running talk, I just did the coolest thing ever. I saw Ira Glass. Ira Glass. My idol. No joke. I've been listening to This American Life for years and haven't missed an episode since I started. I can't get enough of it. It's accompanied me on many a run and kept me from going absolutely apeshit when the subway's broken or people won't move into the train (as in, it calms me down). It doesn't hurt that Ira has one of the greatest (dare I say, sexiest? Too old for that to be acceptable?) voices around. Which reminds me of a video I saw of him back in June. The best. And apparently he plays PlayStation, which makes him triply cool.

Anyway, to make a long story long, TAL tweeted about a mysterious event to take place in Brooklyn tonight and asked if anyone was interested in going. Interested in going?! Hell yeah I'm interested, I'd sell my kidneys to go! Do we even have more than one kidney? Doesn't matter, you can have my firstborn's too. And, mind you, I didn't even know Ira was going to be there. I was shocked when he walked to the front of the room and started talking, literally inches from me (yeah, we were sitting in the front-once a suck-up, always a suck-up). Of course I turned beet red and just sat there terrified he would make eye contact with me but secretly wishing he would make eye contact with me, see the brilliance in my face, and ask me to work for him. Never mind that I'd be terrible at that job. They could take me on as a charity case or something. Anything.

I can't say what we did in there since I signed a confidentiality agreement and am officially hot sh-t, but I can say it was awesome and I expect great things from the people involved. I also hope I get to do more cool stuff like that. That's the reason I was excited to live in New York, super cool hip events no one but me knows about, all day all night. Unfortunately I'm not cool and don't know where these things happen. But tonight's little bit of awesomeness will make me hesitate before insulting New York for a few weeks, or at least until the next time the express train runs slower than the local when I have to be somewhere (WHICH HAPPENED TONIGHT-why does this always happen to me?!?!?!).

Now that I've got my crazy stalker fangirl talk out of the way, let's talk about my run today! I didn't make it back to Central Park as I had hoped because I didn't think I'd have enough time. Instead I got off the L at 1st Ave and ran up 1st to my work, which I think is roughly 3 1/2 miles. I wish I could tell you specifically but no, my phone is still being a little bit-h. For whatever reason it just hasn't been able to pick up the signal the past couple of days. I wonder if I need to upgrade it or something... It was nice and chilly out, just the way I like it, and I felt like I was moving pretty well. I actually think that going up First is more of a grunt than most of the hills in CP-no, not as steep as the north woods or whatever they're called, but overall more strenuous then the rest of East Drive since it's a continuous uphill for multiple miles. I ran for about 31 minutes so definitely did at least 3 miles, and probably more like 3 1/2. Tomorrow's run calls for 30 minutes, so even if my phone is still being the worst, I can do the run properly. It makes me uneasy not knowing exactly how far I went. I always assume I've done less than I'm supposed to even when I run for way longer than it takes me to run that distance. It's a sort of neurosis. I took this gem in my work's bathroom afterward:

You're probably all like "Jean, take that shirt off, wash it,

you're disgusting-are you wearing it inside out?"

and I'd have to agree with you on all counts. I'm working on it.

Excited for my run tomorrow! I don't usually run three days in a row because I assume my body will break if I do, but I feel totally fine. Take that, formerly busted hips!

-Jeano