Time for a reality check.
Straight up truth: running sucks sometimes. Pounding the pavement mile after mile can be downright painful no matter how carefully you've trained. It's been a few months since I've legitimately raced and my muscles have conveniently forgotten the burning, leaden, jelly like sensation that inevitably sets in during the final miles. However, with the marathon looming in less than 10 days (
OMFG), there's probably no better time to give myself a healthy psychological kick in the ass and gear up for the
impending pain train.
For your entertainment, I submit a visual reminder courtesy of those sneaky
brightroom photographers. Seriously, guys, could you get ONE shot of me not looking like I want to die?
 |
| Oh hey heyyyy. Who's that hottie? |
I was tempted to post some of
Kim's sexy photos as well but I didn't want to be shanked in my sleep...
Whatever. On the bright side, the
NY Times reassures me that
I'm not the only one looking like a hot mess - even elite runners get nasty!
Times reporter Gina Kolata discusses the mental strength it takes for elite athletes to push through the pain and some of running's less appealing physical side effects. According to
NYRR CEO Mary Wittenberg:
“Mental tenacity — and the ability to manage and even thrive on and push through pain — is a key segregator between the mortals and immortals in running. You can see it in the saliva-coated faces of the top runners in the New York marathon We have towels at marathon finish to wipe away the spit on the winners’ faces,” she said. “Our creative team sometimes has to airbrush it off race photos that we want to use for ad campaigns."
Hot stuff, Mary. While I may never be as hardcore as
Kim Smith, I certainly can pull off the "I hate my life" grimace like a champ. I can't WAIT to see the post-marathon photos. Not.
 |
| Let me tell you how I really feel |
 |
| FTW. |
False--the marathon is totally not in the 10-day forecast yet. That means it is still way out on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteAlso I'm glad you decided not to post any of me. Your assumptions were correct.
And we can totally run the first however many miles together and smiling so we at least have one matchy-matchy picture that comes out decently. Maybe we can be completely in sync again?
Finally, when are we getting our shirts?!? The playlist is pared down to 5 hours and 10 minutes, to give myself some buffer...
I feel like this just indicates that you might try to be aware of all the photo stops along the race route so you can at least try to look super hardcore for the candid. Kind of like you try to do with any camera...
ReplyDeleteI personally like the photo I have of you with the gun to your head while running.... But I may have to agree with Em. =)
ReplyDelete