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Thursday, December 16, 2010

3 Hours vs 30 Miles

My daily commute is slightly over 32 miles each way. In the morning it usually takes me about 45 minutes, in the evenings it varies.  Tonight, it took almost 3 hours to make it home.  Snow, or should I say the prior falling of it caused the entire Baltimore/Washington area to gridlock.  Needless to say, I didn’t make it to my running group.  Actually, I could have just made it, but by that time I was already worn out, hungry, and just not feeling it.  So I met Jen and Connor at Don Pablo's and blew my weekly dieting progress.    Oh well, I’ll try to get a run in tomorrow at work, but if not, there is the Rudolph Run on Saturday. 

Jen made a comment the other day about having one of those fake screens for my treadmill and it got me thinking about my running, treadmills, and why I can’t stand them.  Last Sunday I was doing my long run (8 miles) and decided to call my Grandma in Oklahoma.  We talked for a good 45 minutes or more while I was running and it was a great feeling.  Granted,I was going slow enough that I could talk on the phone but this reminded me of the movie “In Good Company”.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s a pretty good movie, but really isn’t about running. 

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There is a scene early on of Topher Grace that starts with a close-up of him talking on the phone and running.  At first it looks like he’s outside running through a forest, but the camera pans out to show him on a treadmill with one of those screens behind him (actually to his left but behind him from the camera’s point of view).  He’s unhappy with his life and everything seems artificial. 

Clipboard07By the end of the movie he’s gone through a life lesson and ,without giving anything away,  the films ends on a second close up of him running on the beach and talking on the phone.  I’ve always loved this contrast.  The artificial treadmill run vs a real beach with the smell of the ocean, wind on your face, and sun warming your body.  Something about that just seems calming, meditative, rejuvenating; the kind of run I wish I could do everyday.

1 comment:

Annie said...

I bet Grandma would have talked your head off for 3 hours if you let her! ; )

I helps me to have a window to stare out of on the treadmill. The one at our apt. gym overlooks the pool.