Enough already! I'm starting to feel like a caged animal being force fed carbohydrates. I feel like one of those poor chickens on those assembly line farms that PETA wants to shut down... sit/ eat/ sit/ eat... I can't shake the image that I'm just being fattened up for the slaughter! I feel as though I'm one gram of carbohydrate away from total blindness. And the tooting! Enough already! Yup, the jitters have set in bad and it's beginning to consume me. Pet peeve? I don't know how many people have asked if I feel ready for the marathon and I don't have a definitive answer. My response sounds more like an excuse or even an apology.
"So Mike, ya ready for the big day?"
"Gee, ah, well, sort of, I guess, but I have this little pain here in my....".
I should answer with a vibrant "YES. I AM MAN. I AM READY" but the lingering doubt casts a cloud. What if I'm not ready? What if I crash and burn, or worse, hit the wall? Now THAT would be embarrassing after me coming across as such an expert on the wall in that blog post a couple days ago. I'd rather be run over by a bus than face the humility of the wall! And what if I let my group down? They actually think I know what I'm doing! Sure hope they're not reading this post. They'll be looking to cash me in for a younger, sexier bunny.
Equally frustrating is the comment "Man you look so skinny" and then for emphasis in case I don't believe them, "even your face is skinny", and then, as if I'm a total nimrod and require a visual, some will actually pull their skin down over their cheek bones. Excuse me, but I'm not skinny! I'm in shape for a marathon. I've been training since August 2007. I've logged almost 700 miles since January 2008. I run 4 or 5 times a week. I eat like a horse. I don't eat junk. My only vice is a beer and dark chocolate. Sheesh man get it right, "fit" yes, "strong" you bet, even "lean" would be ok, but skinny? Man that's just deflating!
Snarky eh? I'm blaming it on the carbs.. their backing up into my cerebellum, the old grey matter's shutting down. Yup those jitters sure do get a hold of you!
Bye for now. M ;>))
6 comments:
Loved your blog Mike! I too am getting very sick of carbs and can’t believe I will be able to run Sun after all the consumption this week. I think we all have jitters no matter the race or the goal. I keep telling myself it is not the Olympic trials –get over yourself (it helps for a while). I am pretty sure I haven’t told you that you look skinny but I know I did last year, and you are right lean and fit are much better adjectivesJ
Have a great day on Sunday I hope to be able to stay around and watch the marathoners come in.
Sandra
Good luck on the half-mary, Sandra. By the way, you're looking amazingly fit! I'll be looking for you at the start. Bye, M
Hi Mike,
You? Snarky? Never! Maybe it's Friday the 13th and you're feeling unlucky or the day has made you start having doubts. Well, I'm here to say that I have immense faith in you, both as my group leader and as a friend. And who says you're not sexy?
Mike, put those negative thoughts out of your mind, right now. You've trained so long and so hard for this that you've got to go into it with a positive mind set. You, of all people always seem so positive and prepared for anything to me. What will be, will be but all of us can only hope for the best. And the best will be all of us finishing upright, cheering each other in and hopefully congratulating Nazir on a Boston qualifying run. For those duds who call you skinny, let them try to walk along with you, never mind run or cycle. You're our leader, Mike! You've inspired each of us along the way so I hope that my words of encouragement will help to make you feel more excited and ready than nervous and doubtful. Relax, put your feet up and think happy thoughts! Now, I'm not finished my reports so off I go. I was hoping to join you tomorrow morning but will still have report card work to do and an appointment at 11:00 so I'll look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
Deb
P.S. Yes, I'm sick of pasta, too!
Listen here you skinny, snarky, little man, I have been training with you for the past sixteen weeks and without the help and advise that you have shared with me and the others we will all burn and crash on Sunday. However because of the words of wisdom you have given us I know that we will all make it to the finish line. We may not all finish at the same time because we all have our own goals, but we all share the same goal of finishing the Marathon. I didn't know you before Feb 2008 but you don't seem to have lost any more weight since then. It is better they say you are skinny then to ask you "Are you sick, you're losing all this weight". I think we are all sick to be putting our bodies through this gruelling torture, but like they say "No pain, No gain". We are accomplishing something other people can only think about. Be proud of what you are doing and accomplishing and knowing that you have helped so many other people finish what they have started. This includes all of your students that you are helping also. I have thought about running the Manitoba Marathon for the last 25 years and am glad that I chosen now and have the opportunity to meet a leader like you and also the great people we run with each and every week. We all have the jitters, I have had them all week and was wondering if I was the only one.
Good luck on Sunday, see you there.
P.S. You are not a skinny, snarky, little man, you are a GREAT LEADER, FRIEND and a TEACHER
Mike, I got the umbrella for you…problem is I won’t be able to keep up with you!!! Weather network looks good no rain…I will see you tomorrow morning…I liked your blog…I get the skinny thing all the time too!!!
Hydrating, watching euro soccer and getting garmin, clothes etc. ready. Kids and wife running super run. Mike, you have been the best!!! Great trainer and overall great person and a new friend. Thank You!!!!
Wow, do you know what I would pay to have someone call me skinny! They'd be my new best friend! But you're right, fit and lean do sound much better! It's been fun seeing your progress and it's inspiring to hear of the group as a whole!
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