Monday, April 28, 2008

Too Much Time On My Hands

("Too Much Tim on My Hands" by Styx, Paradise Theater)

I’ve awoken each of the past 7 days with nowhere to be. No run to get in. No need to check the weather to see if I can squeeze in 5 or 7 miles. Basically, no running schedule whatsoever.

It’s kinda nice.

Except I also feel a little lost. I’m not anchored to anything. I can play with the kids. There’s time to do that. I don’t. But I could if I wanted too.

I am determined to wait 2 weeks before taking my next run. I have ants in the pants but I’m forcing myself to do it. I keep telling myself it’s the best thing for me but I can’t help obsessing over the marathon results and the 5k for which I want to get busy training.

Also, I have way too much time to think of Styx and how to incorporate them into a post. I’m not that into Styx. In fact, a quick perusal of my CD collection shows that I don’t even own one of their albums. Yet, I seem to know all of their songs by heart. Maybe it’s because their cheesiest recording years coincided with my music-awakening adolescent years. Who hasn’t done “the robot” to Mr. Roboto? (broken elbow action and all)

Who has even noticed the sidebar (look right) listing my PR’s under the very clever reference to Styx’s Best of Times? C’mon, people. It’s been there for years (or year + anyhow)

Damn, if I like ‘em so much, I guess I should buy an album at least. Dennis DeYoung’s hair ain’t gonna perm by itself.


70's chic at its finest



So, what to do with myself?

I’ve gone through all of the junk in my race goodie bag. Most of it went in the trash. Some of it will be used. And some of it saved only to go in the trash 14 years from now when I next look at it.

So…fingers drumming, fingers drumming….what to do?

It took me 3 days to finally start feeling like I earned the race medal. I have a weird love/hate thing with those medals. If I had a great race, the medal seems like a sweet trophy. If not, the medal feels like a scarlet letter emblazoned on my chest as a mark of shame.

Yes, I wear my medals. Everywhere.

I don’t like to be obnoxious about it but, hey, they give you a little strap to wear around your neck for a reason right?

So, I wake up, put on my medal, and go about my day. Sure, it gets in the way sometimes. I bent down to give my daughter a hug (actually, I was picking up the newspaper but she thought it was a hug so what are you going to do?) and the darn thing whacked her in the mouth and chipped her tooth. Don’t worry. It didn’t scratch the paint off of it. A quick scolding later, I plopped back into my chair with my medal and newspaper (and rapid fire volume increase on the TV what with all the crying and all).

My neighbor was out cutting his lawn and I was able to angle the reflection of the sun off the medal and directly into his eyes. Fifteen minutes later when he finally realized the source, he wandered over to say hello. I pretended not to notice his approach.

“So, you ran the Boston Marathon?”

“Oh,uh, yeah, how did you know?”

“Well, you were standing on the edge of your deck working that medal around your neck back and forth getting the sun in my eyes. You might have noticed that it caused me to mow down my rose bush.”

“Oh, I forgot I was wearing it. Silly me.”

“Well, congratulations, I guess. I’m going to go back and cut my lawn now and try to resuscitate my rose bush. Are we good here now?”

“Not sure what you mean but…thanks.”

“Yeah, well….by the way, what time did you get?”

Pfffffffffffttt. (Air escaping the balloon.) I immediately feel the need to jump into Time Justification defcon 1. Ugh.

My local newspaper had the audacity (+1) to publish the list of Boston Marathon finishers from the area without my permission. Now, I’m getting emails from folks I barely know congratulating me on my time. This presents a bit of a quandary. Not sure I know them well enough to plead my case that, really, I can do even better. Honest. I really, really can.

The only thing to do is send them a note back thanking them with a simple reply:

Domo Arigato”.

25 comments:

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

Well the good news is that the general public really has no clue what a good marathon time is. In fact, the general public doesn't even seem to know how *long* a marathon is (my mom: "So what kind of marathon did you run? A 10k marathon?")

Ian said...

Hmmm, that is quite a conundrum (+2) that you are in. You’re right, you can’t just come out and say that your PR is much higher or that you are really much faster, but you could imply it. Next time someone congratulates you on your time might I suggest the following response: “Oh, that? Well it’s not a bad time, considering I was pacing a group of blind orphan refugees.”

Not only are you faster, but a humanitarian too.

Marcy said...

I agree with Danielle and in fact the next time someone asks me how fast I ran a marathon I'm going to say 2:02 :P

BTW Styx?!? Yeaahhhh waayy before my time ;-)

KimsRunning said...

This was your funniest post so far. And I don't even like Styx. Blah! I'm older than you, I like Bread, Jim Croce, James Taylor....LOL...showing my age!

Non-runners don't know what a good marathon time is AT ALL. I realized that as soon as they said my 5:33:38 was awesome....haha!!!

Since you have so m uch time on your hands, I'll be looking for more posts from you...

B. Kramer said...

I almost broke a pint glass with my Akron medal, which you'd think would be made of rubber, considering they need to figure how to keep those tire makers in town, but no it's a metal medal. The beer suffered no injuries. Until digestion.

Unknown said...

Totally hillarious, Nitmos!

What I like to do when a non-runner asks about my marathon time, is to reverse the pressure back on them. Something like "Why...what time do you think I ran?" That way you turn up the pressure on THEM and make them look stupid. Gets 'em everytime.

The Laminator said...

Dope...I signed in with the wrong account again. (The last comment was mine!) See, that's what happens when I try to be funny and sarcastic.

Kristina said...

Here ya go: You ran 26.6 miles, if my Garmin is to be trusted (a big "if"), so you can shave a few minutes off your time and tell people, "The BAA says I did 3:59, but the far more reliable and universally accepted clock known as Kristina's Garmin says I was much faster."
You're welcome.

The 311 Boys Mom said...

Ok, so Vanilla is trying to be YOUR nemisis!! How cute is that?!?!? :o)

I think you did great, you could say you came in ahead of however many thousands of people, or casually give your time, like it was a walk in the park.

As previously stated, most RL people have no idea whats good, bad or ugly.

As for the tooth, it'll fall out & she'll get a new one. THANK GOD nothing happened to the medal, which I haven't seen a pic of yet!!!

MissAllycat said...

The next time someone asks what your time was, create a diversion and high-tail outta there. You might want to start carrying ninja smoke bombs in your pockets.

Tall Girl Running said...

Non-runners are more impressed with the amount of time you ran.

"You ran for 4 1/2 hours straight???. You are some kind of amazing!"

As if I'm going to tell them that's actually really not that impressive at all. But let them think what they will, eh?

Your blog's a hoot, Nitmos. Thanks for the good readin'.

nwgdc said...

you and i just have to run together now...
the guy that played at my wedding reception is the older brother of STYX drummer Todd Sucherman! i only know this much, however, and am not sure which one he is in the photo.

if you ahve too much time on your hands, write more posts...they're absolutely hilarious!

Fun Guv said...

Alas, we own 2 Styx albums, Paradise Theatre (on CD & vinyl) and a Greatests Hits collection. I'll make you copies of both...then you can add whatever songs you want to your ipod....now those are tunes to run to.

You're welcome!

Lily on the Road said...

Glad to hear that the medal is fine!! LMAO....wait till you get the dental bill.....

Maybe a peace offering of a new rosebush is in order, no, wait, he was the one in the way of the sun reflection.....hahahah

oddly enough an old nickname of mine was Loralie....gawdddddd, that makes me really old!!! hahahah, Styx songs live on!!

;^)

sRod said...

Um, shouldn't you be doing some kind of recovery running? Just a few 30 minute runs spread through out the two weeks following the marathon--if anything it helps your legs from becoming too tight from two weeks of rest.

And about medals (and you know my need to get them), even if it's a crap race, you know you'll still wear it with pride.

Reluctant Runner said...

You claim to have never owned a Styx album but know all the lyrics, Nitmos. Hmmmm... very suspicious. Especially given the fact that in your Styx-referencing sidebar, you have actually used the ellipsis to indicate the beat in the immortal Styx lyrics: "These are the best ... of times."

A hilarious post -- thanks!

Stuart said...

oh you could just start yakking on about negative splits and bamboozle them heart rate zones!

Unknown said...

Oh great -- now I won't be able to get to sleep thanks to the "Too Much Time on my Hands" earworm.

But speaking of medals, the REAL bling is for the Goofy Challenge as you get to have three -- yes, three -- medals clanging around your neck. (Although I guess it's not QUITE as prestigious as Boston).

Frayed Laces said...

So you've already established two essential life functions your medal provides:
1) Child discipline
2) Intra-cul-de-sac relations

What's next? Solar-powered cooking? Wound cauterizer? Oh the possibilities...

Kevin said...

ROFLMAO. You are one wild and crazy dude. Its funny every time I hear someone say anything about Styxx all I think about is Cartman on Southpark singing come sail away
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/150308/

AddictedToEndorphins said...

Haha so I definately agree, nobody knows what a good marathon time is,so make up some ridiculous time! :) Hm, 45 min?

Enjoy the recovery, you deserve it!!!

P.S. I wear my medals too!!! Bragging rights forever!

RunToTheFinish said...

hmm...I never remember to not run and then it really hurts and then I can't remember why I am running. I wonder if it hurts because I'm wearing my medal and it's slapping me in the chest? I'd take it off when I run, but that seems like taking off your wedding ring when kissing your spouse.

KimsRunning said...

Hmmm...no new posts....are you laying on the couch eating potato chips????? I knew it.....

Razz said...

you gave yourself a point for audacity? How's that GED working for you?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your time.