Friday, April 17, 2015

I needed a change....

I have had long hair for a while now. I probably started growing it out about 4 years ago.

However, you would never know it because it usually looks like this...
Me with my favorite iRONman.
It's always pulled back and into a looped ponytail. When I do leave it down, by midday it's annoying me and sitting on my neck and, yup, it gets pulled up.
 
I was thinking about cutting my hair. It's only hair. It'll grow back. I'm healthy enough that it will. I did the usual musing out loud on Facebook. I did some crowd sourcing. I was given some reasons I shouldn't cut it:
  • ponytails are low maintenance
  • ponytails are great for working out
  • you have such pretty hair
  • short hair with your curls will take effort
The reason that caused me to launch into an obscenity filled rant:
Men like long hair. Men don't like short hair. If you want to be dating you should leave your hair long.
This isn't the exact quote because I pretty much stopped listening and started cussing my girl friend out. These were some of the topics/thoughts/themes I shared with her: I am not dating anyone. I live my life for me. I'm open to the idea of a someone, but I stopped holding my breath YEARS ago. So I should leave my hair long just in case I might meet some guy who might want to date me but he might only want to date me if I have long hair? I went on to say if he doesn't want to date me because of my hair, then he's not the right guy for me.

I stopped waiting for a knight in any sort of armor to swoop in and make my life complete a long time ago. If I were waiting for that to happen, I'd still be watching my life go by. I never would have taken a cruise. I never would have gone to Israel. I never would have started running. I never would have started tri-ing. I never would have bought my condo (well, that might have been a good thing, I digress.)
Most of the knights I have met have turned out to be a bit goofy
We beat this sentiment to a pulp yesterday on Facebook. I told her I was posting about it. She followed the comments. We are friends like that. We can bluntly disagree and then agree to disagree.

You know how some single people don't understand why they are single? I'm not one of them. Here's the reality of it all: THE LIST OF REASONS NOT TO DATE ME IS SO FREAKIN' LONG, and the length of my hair doesn't even earn top 20 status:
  • I'm outspoken
  • I'm a planner
  • I don't like surprises
  • I stay busy
  • I bite my nails
  • I have endurance but no six-pack
  • I don't understand a single gaming system
  • My idea of a great first date is a nice easy run.
  • I like food and have difficulties with hyper-picky eaters
  • I don't need a man in my life
  • I don't know what I want to be when I grow up
  • I have no patience for 'dating games'
  • I have no idea where the latest hot spot to hang out is
  • My alarm is often set at 05xx seven days a week
  • I am going to eat all of that
  • I don't watch Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead or Mad Men
  • I don't have cable television (or won't as of May)
  • Very quickly into dating I lose interest in getting dressed up to go out and am quite content to cook a meal together and just hang in except sometimes, I want to go out
  • I don't like cats
  • I have killer tan lines of a perma-tri kit and socks
  • I have no interest in rearranging my life around any one specific sports team
  • I speak sarcasm fluently
  • I'm a strong personality
  • I'm deeper than a kiddie pool
  • If I sit still, I often fall asleep
I feel strongly that others could add to the list, but I think you get my point.

And well, if you are a guy who only likes long hair, then I'm SOL. Because I have short hair:
Left: The first cut through. Right: half my head cut, the other half not.
All done by Devon at Van Michael, and then the aftermath of a cap and rain.
If you can handle that list or know some one who can....I might be flexible on some ;)

Saturday, April 11, 2015

I Take Ideas from Others....

Last week a woman I follow on Daily Mile discussed this quote. Her point really resonated with me. So much so, I'm still thinking about it. We all know we aren't supposed to compare ourselves to others, but she went on to discuss not comparing ourselves to our former selves.

Focusing on the right here. Right now.

Before IMFL, I had legs. I mean most wouldn't consider me a 'fastie' but I was a very solid top 25% in most of my running races. Since IMFL I have been struggling with getting my legs back. I feel like I have no turnover in them, and while my legs and body loves running long and easy (aka slow), my ego is taking a beating. My conversational pace is a full 1-2 minutes off where it once was.

Last week while visiting my favorite Ice Cream Shop LBS (Cannon Cyclery) I was asked if I was going to do the SheMovesATL 5K. I said no. My coach who was there at the time looked at me and nodded. So I changed my answer to "ummm ok."
Curtis doing his thing and glaring at me.
I don't run 5Ks. 5Ks when raced to the best of my ability hurt. My heart thumps against my chest. My lungs want to explode and the last time I pr'd (person record) a 5k I wanted to throw-up at the end. That's why I don't run 5Ks. I'm a long course athlete...I don't go hard, I just keep going. Well, coach altered my training plans to include the 5K.

I did score this great t-shirt
Training Peaks notes said "Race, to the best of your ability." Mind you this was after I sent coach a text: Really a 5K? I have no legs for a 5K right now."

I woke up, headed over to the race and got a short warm up done. Getting ready to start the race, I spoke to a woman who explained the course to me: Down hill going out. Flat. Up hill coming back in. If you look at my splits for the race you'd think it was a poorly executed race as each mile got slower. BUT: I embraced the hills going out; held on for the flat and then pushed through the hills at the end. Overall, while it wasn't even close to my fastest 5K time it was almost 2 minute faster than I expected.

What does the opening quote have to do with me running a 5K this weekend?

I now have 2 options: A. Celebrate that I had a good run for where my training and focus is right now. B. Be miserable that I used to do this race faster. I choose A. My speed is still there-ish and I just read through my upcoming training plans and speed work is coming.

I even brought home some hardware this morning: A pint glass and a pair of panties as I finished second in my age group.

 
I've been encouraging others not to minimize their accomplishments and be in the here and now. It's time for me to take my own advise. After all, it is a long road to IM Lousiville.