Tales From The Trail

It's no secret I go running. Sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I hate it. Whenever I can, I go to El Paseo Lineal de Bayamon. It's a nice path for walkers, runners and a separate one for cyclists. On the site it says it's a total of 6 miles. I think it's less than that, but I can't run the whole thing anyway. I did reach a goal and continuously ran from one end to the other. Now I have to work on running the whole way back. I have to stop and walk a few times on the way back.

Anyway, this is not why I blog today. I blog to share yet another random story. It takes place while I was running this morning in Bayamon. One other thing that you should know about this place is that it isn't uncommon for people to randomly greet you or to make some comment to you. Usually, it's old folks that do this. So there I was running, sweating, looking at the cyclists as they go by. By the time it takes me to run one way, I've seen the same cyclists maybe three or four times, depends on how fast they're going. I'm concentrating on jogging more than running because I don't want to burn out. I see a cyclist and as he passes by he says "Buenos dias". I've never had a cyclists greet me before (unless they're your friend). They acknowledge you're there, but never talk. So I wasn't expecting it and therefore said nothing back.

Later on I see the same cyclist. By now I've reached the point in my run where I'm battling with the snot running down my nose. Attractive I know. So I'm sniffling and at the same time the cyclist says "Buenos dias". I BARELY heard him over my sniffle and I didn't say anything back. Of course now I'm thinking the guy is weird and continue on my run.

On my way back I'm tired and thinking about stopping at the water fountain. The first two I see don't work. I know there's another one ahead at the rest stop and I'm hoping that one works. I didn't need to stop, I run with a water bottle so I had water...I just wanted COLD water. I see the rest stop, the fountain and then the cyclist leaning on the benches. My thought process: "oh crap...I should run past...but I want cold water...the fountain probably doesn't work....I should run past...I'll quickly check if it works which it won't so I won't have to really stop...I should run past". I walk up to the fountain expecting it not to work, but it does. I drink some water, fill up my bottle and the cyclist starts talking to me.

"Te iba invitar a sentarte un rato", he says.
"Como?", I said as if I didn't hear him the first time.
"No que te iba a invitar a descansar un rato", he says.
"Tengo que seguir, no puedo parar", I say as I fill my water bottle.
"Cuanto tiempo llevas corriendo?", he asks.
"En el dia de hoy? Como unos 40 min", I say.
"Es que te veo corriendo ahi con tanto deseo...", he says in a low voice to which I say nothing.
"Tienes que tener cuidado con el calor y hace mucho sol", he says.
(yeah, it couldn't have been a cloudier day today in Bayamon)
"Yo corro por las tardes, el sol no me molesta", I reply.
"Bueno, pero correr con cuidado porque el sol lastima...", he says.
"Agua, tomar mucha agua", I say as I show him my bottle and finally see my opportunity to end the conversation.
"Bueno, que tengas un buen dia", I say and start running away from the Oakley wearing cyclist.
"Igual a ti, que tengas un buen dia", he says as I'm running away.

Uhm, I'm a bit confused. After this minute long conversation, all I could try to figure out was what in the world did he see that made him hit on me. Let me describe my physical state while running. Sweat, hair in disarray, snot nose happenings and the obvious face flush from the heat and exersion. More specifically (just so you can picture how attractive I looked) my tank top was soken through with sweat in circular patterns. I looked like I was lactating. My pants were soken through with sweat also. I looked like I had pissed myself. So which one was it he liked more? The sweaty lactating shirt look or the sweaty pissed pants look? Maybe it was a combination of both. I didn't really want to find out.

Was the cyclist good looking? I think you can tell from my fountain-thought process what I thought. To each their own, really, but I'm just not into 40 something year old men. When I'm 40 I'll be into 40 year old men :)

Two other things that happened almost at the end of my run was that I saw, no...I caught another cyclist checking me out. This one was younger and cuter. Now why didn't he try to chat me up?! hahaha! He was one of those serious cyclists though. They never talk or stop and pass by the runners more than four times. Then at the end this elderly man said to me, "Por ahi voy! Lento, pero por ahi voy". This just made me laugh.

As you can see, Hay un poco de todo en Bayamon.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was pretty damn busy which is unusual for me. My weekends have turned into subdued, stay at home and watch movies kind of deals. But this weekend was busy.

Saturday, I woke up early as always because apparently I'm physically uncapable of sleeping past 6am anymore. So I got up ate breakfast and got ready. I had the day all planned out. Since I had to run errands, I would do that in the morning leaving the afternoon free. So by 8am I was at the ticket counter of Coliseo Roberto Clemente to pick up my race package. I decided to get it the day before because Sunday would've been hectic. So I did. Then I ran errands in plaza for a couple of hours and went home...only to realize I had to return to the mall.

By the time I got back, it was time to get ready for "C's" Bridal Shower. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Everyone was in good and high spirits. The party was a great time. Food, pink champagne, one beaming bride to be surrounded by her giddy friends and even one tupee wearing lounge pianist. What more could you ask for? :D After the shower I went to a birthday party and got home around midnight. It was later than expected, but I went straight to bed to rest up for the sunday race.

Sunday, Race For The Cure. Of course I didn't sleep in because...I don't know. I can't :) I tried to nap during the day, but I just kept getting interrupted. So 4pm came around and "A" and I went off the the race. There were so many people there. I didn't see the other people I knew who were going to be there till the end of the race. It was an awesome race. I mean, running is a sport for crazy people. Why in the world would you put yourself through being in pain, out of breath and wanting to vomit all at the same time?! It's great ;) Now, I'm not sure how the timing thing works. I know there's the chip that keeps the "official" time, but I run with my own watch. I start it as soon as I cross the starting line and stop it when I cross the finish line. By my watch I ran the 5k in 30:13. "Officially" my time was 32:27.

So my weeked was pretty busy and tiring. Today I was still exhausted and just wanted to be home all day.

And My Time Was...

...33:46:00

This is the fastest I've ran a 5k. I was just trying to get in under 48min which is around what I did last year at this same race. And checking out my time from last year's Race For The Cure, I took 2 minutes off that time. So I guess this is all an improvement. I don't really see myself getting any faster. I'm all about slow and steady :)

5k Completed!

So I survived the 5k. Hoooooray!

I went with my brother "A", sister-in-law "A" and co-worker "J". We were all standing around anxious for the race to start. That's when all these other people who said they weren't going to do it arrived. I was surprised because the whole month was them saying they weren't going to sign up. Well, they didn't, but ran/walked the race anyway :) I ran as much as I could before walking. I made it half way and then felt like I was going to throw up. That's when I gave myself a break and walked for a bit. After that it was stop and go till the end.

This is my second time around running this race and I did so much better this time. I can't say for sure what my time was. Yes, I did have a stop watch. The problem was that after I crossed the finish line, I pressed the button and it didn't stop. So I have to wait for the official results to be posted, but it should be less than 35min.

Some people don't notice others around them since they get into the runner's zone. Me, I still observe everyone. There was one man running next to me that was growling. I guess that's how he pumped himself up, but it was weird. He was obviously covered in sweat and I guess drinking water or creating saliva because the growling turned into a semi-gurgling sound. I thought he was going to pass out...but he didn't.

All in all, it was a fun afternoon. Time for a shower!
OH! I forgot to mention something. "A", "J" and I decided to stay in the back at the beginning of the race. We didn't really want to be sandwiched in with all the real runners. Anyway. So we're standing in the back and I see this group of 3 or 4 people just pop open a few Medalla's. What?! Who chugs a beer right before a 5k?!? Only in Puerto Rico, I swear.

5k Ready?

Am I ready for the 5k tomorrow?

If this was taking place a couple of months ago, then I would say, "hell yeah!" But as of right now, the answer to that question is, "fuck no!" Oh, I'm still going to go and run as much as I can, but there's no way I can run the whole thing. I've kept exercise as an important part of my life, but recently it's just gotten harder to incorporate. Since work started up again, it's rare that I don't feel exhausted in the afternoons with tons of desire to go running.

I know I have to stop making excuses and just get it done. I intend to fully start up again this coming week with a 5k introduction. What a great way to start! I'll keep bugging "C" to see if she'll join me in on the trails, but I know she won't. I'm hopeful to get her out there at least once a week. We'll see.

The race will be fiiiiine. I don't intend to kill myself and try to run the whole thing. I'll be walking along with the other tired people when I'm out of gas. I have no problem with that.