While about halfway through today's long run I was motivated to run a little faster as I approached an extremely smelly porta poddy. The smell permeated for a good quarter mile, and the quickest way to get out of the danger zone, was to speed up those feet.
That got me to thinking, and before I knew it a mile or two had gone by as I was compiling in my mind a list of the top 15 irritating things I regularly encounter on my runs which cause me to speed up, and so really these irritating motivators are silver linings, and I am begrudgingly thankful for them:
1) Smelly porta poddys
2) Off-leash pooches who think it's fun to chase you (after all that's why you are running, right?)
3) Imminent bridge lifts (while I used to find these irritating, I actually like them now as they provide an opportunity to take in a nice view & stretch a bit, but when you are cresting the bridge & see a vessel coming, it's fun to try & outrun it too!)
4) A slowly approaching freight train at the RR crossing you must pass over (longest wait at a RR crossing, over 10 mins!)
5) Creeps
6) The sudden feeling that you must use the restroom (tip: don't eat a lot of cherries the day before a long run...trust me)
7) Approaching rain clouds (while I enjoy a run in the rain, it's actually fun to try outrun the rain clouds!)
8) Crowds of people (the quickest way to get out of the bottle neck of people on foot & pedals is to find the maze within and just hoof it)
9) Runners & their dogs on long leashes (I think it's great for runner & pooch to go for a run, or walk, but please keep them on a tight leash. When your furry friend is 10+ feet from you, you've just created an unwanted obstacle course)
10) Group mob runners/walkers (I frequent group runs, and so I get it, but please realize that just because you are in a group does not mean that you get to take the ENTIRE path. Be courteous & let us solos through too)
11) Group stroller runs/walks (don't mistake me, I have mad respect for those who can run and maneuver a stroller, but when running in a group, please recognize that you should sometimes stroll single file through congested pathways)
12) Narrow shoulder on a busy roadway (sometimes you have few options but to run along the side of a busyish road & the best way to get out of harms way is to speed on through)
13) A counting down pedestrian traffic signal (If the countdown is 6 or more, I can always sprint & clear the light before it hits 0!)
14) Hills (I have two large hills to contest with in my neighborhood & sometimes it's just easier to get them over with quickly)
15) Surreys
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| I HATE these!!! |
I must now rant a bit. I get that surreys are fun. They are a neat way for tourists to enjoy themselves. However, I do not appreciate them when crossing over Portland's bridges. The surrey joyriders typically don't have the best control over the contraption, and so they are often unpredictable, and are especially irritating when crossing over the Hawthorne Bridge, because a narrow space must be shared by one-way bicyclists and both-ways pedestrians. The surreys are only available for rental during the fare-weather runner/walker time of year, and so if you are not quick, before you know it you are stuck behind an ill-operated surrey. I've rarely seen happy faced surrey connoisseurs when going over the Hawthorne Bridge, because by this point even they realize how precarious they are to others. My tip to fellow runners/walkers would be to use the eastbound side of the Hawthorne bridge during fare-weather running/walking season (May - September).
All-in-all, I never let any of the above ruin a run, and in fact when you turn them in to quick footed motivators, you can begin to embrace them as opportunities to challenge yourself!
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