Monday, February 15, 2010

Quick 5K report...and a few rants

The 5K went very well--not a PR, but with 21:33, I ran faster on a certified course than I have since 2003. My splits were 6:58, 6:52, 6:57, :44. Very pleased with that! I'm thinking that dipping under 21 this summer might be a very real possibility. It was 14 degrees, with a "real feel" of 5 degrees, at the start, and there were still some icy spots on the course, particularly the turns. So conditions didn't turn out to be quite as favorable as I'd hoped, but they were good enough. Maybe I can better this at one of the flat 5Ks in and around Bloomington in July. And hey...lookit!



Weeeee! This was a fairly sizable race (about 1150 finishers). Very exciting!!!

And now, a couple of rants:

1. People at my gym are illiterate. I have been spending more time there than I'd like, running laps on the track instead of risking death and dismemberment injury out on the ice. There are clearly posted rules in several places in the vicinity. I made special note of these rules because they are slightly different than the rules on a standard track. Faster running should be done on the outside and walkers should stay to the inside. All passing is to be done on the outside. That's the basic gist. (This is a good thing because the track is not an oval, but rather a rounded rectangle, and running around those sharp curves in the first lane would be difficult.) The rest is common sense, like "Look before you cross" and "Don't get in the way of faster runners." Yet people just can't seem to figure it out. Yesterday was a good example (or bad example, actually).
  • Several children were playing on the track (supposedly children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult). No adults seemed to be in charge of these, and they were running up and down the track, running in front of and behind me (one girl even ran behind me for almost a length, shadowing me--I don't care who you are, but don't do that. It reminds me of being raped. Thanks, kid.) They stood on the track in lane one for a while, watching a basketball game taking place below, then romped around like it was their personal playground, apparently taking no notice of the several people whose workouts they were disrupting. They were old enough to know better. When I was a kid, I learned early to stay out of my elders' way. It's not rocket science. Grrrr.
  • There is a girl at the gym that Mark and I have named "Annoying Third Lane Walker Girl." She walks in the third (running) lane. Since I am generally moving faster than others on the track, I spend a lot of time in that lane and she's in my way, a lot. I see her there all the time, but she has yet to get around to reading those rules. She was there yesterday. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just annoying as usual. This time she was joined by another annoying third lane walker girl, except this one kept switching lanes.
  • Three windsuit-clad women were power-walking, taking up the entire track. I yelled "Track!" and finally "Excuse me" and they finally let me by. Grrrr.
  • One dude was walking around the track the WRONG WAY. Now this one just gets me. You don't have to know how to read to figure that out. There's a big purple arrow that tells you which way to go, and if you can't figure THAT out, you could get a clue from the fact that EVERYONE ELSE is going the SAME WAY. There are times to conform, and this is one of them!
I know this is all pretty petty, but I just can't understand what is so hard about taking 30 seconds to read a few rules. Most of the time it doesn't matter. I can just go around them. But on a busier day like yesterday, it can get a little crowded and the rules are there for a reason. Dodging ain't fun when you've been running for more than 3 hours. Oof! I needed to get that out of my system.

2. Mark was pulled over for the second time ever yesterday (on the way back from the race) and administered a ticket for going 12 over the speed limit. This was on a road that was turning into a highway. There were no signs posted in the vicinity and we were going 52, building up to the highway speed limit of 55. Apparently the speed limit there is a 40. Well, now we know, but it was a costly lesson. How much? Well, we won't know for a while, because we have to call a number on the ticket and find out, and apparently it can take 4-6 weeks to be processed into the system. Which will give us another 2 weeks to come up with whatever exorbitant amount they decide to charge. Grrrr. Thanks for ruining the high of my good race, not to mention Valentine's Day! (We don't really care about VDay, but the cop doesn't know that.) We're already on a diet consisting mainly of ramen noodles to help scrape up more money for the house down payment. Guess some of that money is going to the IPD. Thanks guys. I would like to know why they NEVER EVER pull over the people who truly deserve it.

3. Mark then kept getting calls from an 800 number. After the second one, he Googled it and found it was our bank's fraud division. He decided to call them back to see what was up. Apparently someone had used his card info to make $600 of purchases at stores in Illinois. This isn't so much a rant as a "Holy crap I'm glad they caught that." But it is really annoying that he had to cancel his card and will now be without a credit card for about a week. I'm really hoping they roll over the cash back points he had accumulated.

4. My student loan account is on automatic debit. I don't like automatic debit, but they lowered my interest rate if I signed up, so I did. It comes out on the 14th of each month and has been for years. Well, it still hasn't come out for February, and when I checked the account, it is now showing as past due. Maybe this is because of Presidents' Day, but the fact that it is showing as past due pisses me off. I'm afraid to pay it manually because they might take a double payment, which I can't cover until I get paid again. I have been extremely conscientious about paying off my loans on time because it affects my credit. I have an extremely good credit score, and it would be awesome if they could NOT eff that up right before we try to get a mortgage. I've emailed them...just gotta wait and see.

These are some awesome complaints to have compared to last year. I'm kind of "enjoying" them, if that makes any sense. But I'm still annoyed! Boo hiss!

7 comments:

jen said...

Wow, congrats on the 5k!! SO fast!

All valid rants, all that stiff would really irritate me too. But like you said, small potatoes. :)

trainingforsub3 said...

Congrats on the great 5K Mir! Sorry that the police sucked some of the joy out of the day.

I used to get aggravated dealing with people at the gym with treadmills, I couldn't imagine having to deal with those same clowns on a track. I would have a hard time not throwing an elbow at someone.

I saw you post something about Sunburst in LA's blog, are you planning on running there this year? I'm contemplating running the half this year. If so, an FE at Bruno's(Best Pizza in South Bend)might be in order.

Hang in there, spring is getting close!

Vince A. said...

On the track, try running right up behind them, get in their space and brush by, then yell "right" in their ear. They probably won't move over but at least you'll get even!

btw, nice race time and place..

L.A. Runner said...

LOL, the track thing is funny. That's why I ONLY run on the track alone- too many clowns.

Great job on the 5K!!!!!!! You go, girl!

You're smart to get all that credit stuff taken care of. That stinks!

Ps. My word is "lumgums" haha.

DawnB said...

nice race Mir, congratutions I am so in awe with your training and the miles you are getting in. Nice job

Black Bear! said...

Totally legitimate rants. The guy going the wrong way just made me laugh out loud. WTH? How can you miss that????

Sounds like you are keeping up the good humor!

Great Race!

TiredMamaRunning said...

What irritating boneheads at the track. It may not be huge in the big picture, but it's still super-annoying that people can't follow basic rules and guidelines.

And, again, congratulations on a terrific 5K! Even if it's not a PR, it's a really strong performance and the certified course gives you that added boost of confidence in knowing your training's going great.