Elephant Running

I ended up taking the weekend of from running.  It wasn’t the plan but hey, the name fits.   On Saturday, I worked then napped then hit the movies to see the new Avengers.  Awesome!  I planned on running Sunday but I started a spring cleaning project that just grew and snowballed as the day went on.  Suddenly it was almost Sunday dinner time and I hadn’t run yet.  Oops!  In other news, I have way too many pairs of running shorts.  And pants.

oh and socks
oh and socks

Monday rolled around and I was looking forward to running.  I want to transition to running 3x a week, Monday through Friday as opposed to 2x.   So this week is my first attempt.  Monday running just seems so hard to me, I don’t know why.  I did it a few times during my training cycle but it was usually only because I had other conflicts I couldn’t reschedule.    Instead of feeling fresh and ready to run, my legs just felt super heavy.    That actually wasn’t horrible.  What really irritated me was the wind and the thousands upon thousands of gnats.

It's hard to get a picture of gnats.
It’s hard to get a picture of gnats.

We kind of skipped winter and the warmer weather (then) had brought a gazillion gnats.  There are hordes of them around the lake path.   I’ve mentioned it before but seriously it’s nasty.    I alternate between flailing my arms around my face and blowing air out of my mouth or nose.  I refuse to swallow a bug!  I also think of the X-Files every single time.  Anyone ever see that episode with the loggers in the forest from like first or second season?  Where the creepy gnat-like bugs come out of the tree rings and web people in killing them?  Blech.  I think of that every single time.

Now for the elephant run.  I think I’ve posted this before, but what is an elephant run?  This is what I call these runs where things just feel off.  Not a little off, a whole lot off.  Like you feel more like a circus performer flailing about the street than anything remotely resembling a runner.   It has nothing to do with pace, sometimes these runs are slow and sometimes they can be speedy.   Most often I can hear my feet pounding the pavement and I sound heavy footed.   Normally, you can barely hear my feet.  IMG_0330I felt like my left ankle was dropping in, my right knee and lower leg felt all off kilter, like they were swinging out.  My shorts which I have run in at least 1x a week for the last year suddenly kept trying to turn into underwear.  My shirt was riding up under my long sleeved layer.     I kept hitting the headphone cord and pulling them loose.  I stopped every mile to fix some wardrobe malfunction or another.   Oh and the wind!   The last two miles were straight into a headwind.  Ugh.   I think winter’s cousin stopped by for a visit…in May!   Temps have been in the 50’s and the wind has been ridiculous for weeks.  Yes, everyone back east can shake your head an laugh at me.   I have run in pants more in the last month then all winter.   Which is a annoying since I just put all my “winter” stuff away.   20-30 mph winds just need to stop.   I don’t even like driving in them.  😦

To further add to my elephant running, I crossed paths with another runner on my way back down the hill.  I felt like an ungainly mess and was just getting irritated with everything, and here comes this shirtless Adonis running my way making it look effortless.  Come on!   Actually I have no idea what he looked like.  I was running into the sun and he was slightly in the shade.  So all I know is that he was male and shirtless.   Apparently he wasn’t cold like the rest of us out there.    🙂

They weren’t pretty runs but I got them done.   🙂    That’s what counts right?     I took today off since my legs felt so odd yesterday.  This 3x during the week is going a little work to get used to.

Ever had an elephant run? Or something of the sort?

Has the urge to spring clean hit you yet?

Is it possible to have too many pairs of shorts?   🙂

22 thoughts on “Elephant Running”

    1. I hadn’t even planned on cleaning, something started it and it just grew from there. Like the pile of shorts- 🙂 And yes, running is better than not, I took today off due to a migraine and I wish I was running instead.

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  3. I love the term “elephant run!” Just had one last night: a 2-mile tempo run before my 10k race this weekend. Ran in a different pair of running shoes, which threw off my gait. Wore a sweater with a half-zip that rubbed against a sunburn on my chest the whole time. Made the mistake of putting my phone in the front pocket of said half-zip so it was bouncing off my upper thighs with every other step. AND my running app malfunctioned so although I felt I was clocking a good pace, I’ve no evidence to prove it. Sigh. Hope I was just getting all the kinks out before this weekend. Better run next time!

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  4. OMG I want to spring clean so badly but we a) don’t have enough room right now for me to pull out and reorganize everything, and b) I’ve been surprisingly busy the last few weeks. And I have elephant runs all the time. I’d say I have almost as many of those as good or mediocre runs. Oh well.

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    1. It’s amazing how much space things take up once they are out of the drawers and or closets. How did it all fit in there in first place?! Sorry about the mediocre runs but those make the awesome ones better right? At least that’s what I tell myself. 🙂

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  5. Elephant run! Great name! I have one of those at least once a month. Monday’s are always hard for me to run! Its definitely a mental thing for me, that whole “I don’t want the weekend to end, Monday’s suck ass thing.” Maybe a little overdramatic…but they are tough!

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    1. That makes total sense, half of Monday is spent in denial that the weekend is over. 🙂 Plus it always seems so much busier that by the time I am off work I just want to go home. I am going to keep trying though, the idea of one weekend day off is just too enticing. 🙂

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  6. “It’s hard to get a picture of gnats” lol!! I have had plenty of “elephant runs”. Good for you for getting out there!

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  7. ha I like that you call them elephant runs. but I definitely don’t like elephant runs.!! augh
    nope, cleaning urge never hits me.haha, you do have a lot of running clothes.! not too much though 🙂

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  8. I totally get where you are coming from with the elephant runs! Every once in a while we have those odd days where we just don’t feel right!

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  10. Yep – I’ve had those runs, they suck. There is this woman that runs a similar route that I do. She always seems very sweet and I refer to her as “Runner Barbie” because she seriously looks like Runner Barbie. Graceful, perfect swinging blonde ponytail, never winded – a true gazelle. I both like her and hate her just a touch 🙂

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    1. Ugh, those are the worst! I am usually equal parts envious and irritated at the same time. And usually try to hide just how bad I am huffing and puffing while they just breeze along. 🙂 Maybe one day I will be able to run like that…maybe?

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