Hardcore

So I have this friend at work, Kelly, who has started running this past year. The thing I love about Kelly is that she is always excited when she talks about each new milestone she reaches in her new running life. As a teacher, wife, and mom of three young boys, my hat is off to you Kelly and your new found passion. The other thing I love about Kelly is she is not afraid to give me a hard time and shares my same twisted sense of humor. In our profession, as I am sure is the case with all, some people take themselves too seriously, so it is nice to have someone else to share a demented laugh with.

A few weeks ago, when it started to rain Kelly informed me that she was now "hardcore." She had made that leap from jogger to runner now, because she was not going to let some little moisture in the morning air keep her from getting out the door and pounding out some miles. To tell the truth, I was impressed. Most newbies usually ask me, what do you do when it rains? My reply, run. Kelly had already figured out, you are already dripping wet with sweat, so what is a few raindrops going to matter? So I thought, yup Kelly, you are hardcore.

Over the past week I continued to run everyday with a cold and sore throat. As many of you know, when you are running with a cold you have to learn how to gracefully shoot streams of yellow and green in such a manner as to not douse your sleeves, shoes, or sometimes the side of your face with your own snot. My high school athletes find this rather gross, but to be honest, their alternative is much nastier. They just suck it down, hock it up and then spit it out. Sorry, I'd rather not have that salty little flavor on my tongue for 10 miles. Kelly having known my predicament and a reader of my blog, (I hope you are liking it so far Kelly) asked me about this at work the other day. As I was explaining how I do not like to break stride and so forth, I asked her, "what do you do?" At which she replied, "I carry tissue."

I know many runners who carry a little emergency paper for when they need to ditch behind a bush, but not for blowing their noses. I mean, it makes sense to some degree, but what do you do with it later? Do you continue to run with your snot rags? Ewwww! Do you stop and look for a trash can? Excuse me sir, may I make a deposit into your waste container? Do you just drop it and litter? I hope not, since most runners really do care about keeping our running routes fairly clean. At least with a snot-rocket, it is biodegradable. Plus you have to stop, pull out the tissue, which is going to get all wet from your sweaty hands and fall apart when you blow and then you run the risk of blowing it in your hands. Yuck. Kelly, if you want to remain "hardcore," just stick one finger on one side of your nose, turn your head to the other and just blow hard. In the words of Nike marketing, "Just Do It!" I believe in you.

Until the next time, keep running, stay healthy, and if you need to release some nasal juices, you now know what to do.
SP

ps. Kelly, thanks for being a good sport and I hope you continue to enjoy your running life for many, many years. Keep up the good work.