I am so incredibly happy to have a
job at the running store. There are many reasons why I love it, but I am most grateful because of the jobs that it means I’m not
doing. In no particular order, here are some of the part time jobs I feared I
would be doing/seriously looked into:
- school crossing guard
- professional snuggler
- bike delivery girl
- “welcome to Target” lady
So what is it like
working at a running store? The 13-year old me, whose sneaker collection topped out around 20 pairs, would be very proud of myself. I’m surrounded by
awesome shoes all day long. At my old retail job working at a farm stand, we
kept a record of funny quotes we’d hear customers say. So far nothing too crazy
at the running store except for two
different customers who both stood in front of our wall of shoes and inquired
“Do you sell shoes here?” I’ll be keeping a tally of that one. Besides having nightly
dreams about running shoes and what all their differences are, I really can’t
complain. Most peculiarly, when I arrived at work yesterday to open the store, a pair of women's underwear was laying on the ground in the back of the store! You can make what you want of that one. The most likely explanation was that it fell out of someone's bag, but where's the fun in that?
The weekend before last
Owen and I flew back to NJ for Carol’s wedding (a friend from high
school). Of course, I have a semi-ridiculous story about the plane ride there,
and go figure, it involves food. Our flight left at 7-something in the morning.
It arrived in NJ at 4pm. I did not think the food situation through. I
brought a few snacks but that’s it, and they didn’t sell food on the plane. We
literally each had a few nuts for lunch. Let's just say that I was about to go nuts. Then at the
end of the flight when the attendants were collecting trash, Owen pulled out a heaping bag of trail mix! I guess he had
found it under his seat. I’m still wondering, had I known about it earlier, would I have eaten it?
We had a short but
awesome time in NJ and I managed to eat all the things I was craving from home:
a mint ice cream sundae from this local ice cream shop, a Rita’s gelati, a
Jersey peach, and a pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich. I had to do my long
run at home, so what better time to do it than 5:30am, Saturday morning? Armed
with a reflective vest, headlamp, Gatorade, and energy chews, I said goodbye to
my parents before heading out into the dark. I was half hoping, and pretty
certain that, one of them would stop me. It’s a testament to how they raised me
and who I am that they didn’t. So I had no choice but to follow through with my
own crazy scheme. It actually turned out awesome. Highlights included staring
into the bright green eyes of a deer crossing the road in front of me (that I
thought was a bear at first), and watching the fog rise over many a farm field.
I capped off the run at Cara’s house (another high school friend). Cara, her
boyfriend, and her family graciously allowed me to join them for breakfast
despite my stank. I even got to soak in their hot tub afterwards! Best post-run
treat.
 |
| My sweet getup |
Later that day was the wedding. My friends and I only sobbed through a
bit of it… what can I say? A toast by Carol's sister + champagne does not equal dry eyes. We enjoyed pigging out on dinner and too much dessert and dancing late into the night. The morning after, Owen and I stopped at
our favorite bagel place in our hometown. And we found none other than two
friends who also hightailed it there after the wedding. Oh the lure of Jersey bagels.
Last week passed by in a
blur of runs, working at the running store, and gorging myself on food. You
know you’re training for a marathon when you have no less than five different
snack options on hand at any given point in time. I had to work last Saturday,
and Sunday was my long run extravaganza. Owen had plans to go shooting at a
range in the Santa Cruz mountains so I had him drop me off at a trailhead nearby.
There’s not much to report, because nothing actually went horribly wrong this
time! The trail was well marked and I had plenty of water- I wore a hydration
pack with 2 Liters of water. I also carried a handheld bottle that it turns out
has a leak, because my hand turned bright blue from the sports drink in it! A
few hours later, Owen and I rendezvoused at the headquarters of Big Basin State
Park where I treated myself to a soft serve cone and chips. There’s really nothing
finer.
 |
| Overlook on the run |
Tuesday night Owen and I
went to a Minor League Baseball game in San Jose that he had gotten free
tickets to. It was a lot of fun, and now we have a team to support- the San
Jose Giants!
No comments:
Post a Comment