Friday, March 2, 2012

The criminal mind of a runner

Confessions time.  I have three runner's confessions to make today.

Thou Shalt Not Lie
Back in January, I swore off any more new running shoes until at least after the marathon this October.  Yeah, that didn't work so well.  I went a grand total of 5 weeks before I broke my word on that.

In my adventures to try new brands of running shoes, I've so far tried Nikes, Asics, and Mizunos.  Next on my list were Brooks, which I didn't intend to try until sometime this fall.  However, last night, I found a steal on Brooks Glycerin 8 shoes at zbsports.com.  They were about 60% off the original price.  For that much of a deal I couldn't resist.  Bad, I know.

I need to stop looking at these online running store websites.  If I don't see these kinds of deals, I won't be tempted.  But it's like witnessing someone take one bite from an enormous cone of ice cream, only for the ice cream to topple over and go splat on the sidewalk.  You know you shouldn't be looking, but you just can't help yourself.

Allright, maybe not the best hyperbole.  But you get the idea.

Thou Shalt Not Trespass
I've been looking for a public outdoor track near where I live in the West Loop.  This is for various reasons, but mainly to run measured speed intervals and to be able to time my fastest possible mile.  The West Loop is great for running, but sometimes the stop signs and traffic lights do get a little frustrating.

I've learned that there is an outdoor track at St. Ignatius High School nearby.  I've run reconnaissance past it a few times, and unfortunately it's fenced off on three sides.  Based on that, I'm not sure if it would be acceptable for someone to just show up and use it.  I certainly understand that when the track team is practicing, you wouldn't want to intrude.  However, I wonder if it would be allright to use it at times when nobody else was around?  I've actually even looked online at their track schedule to try to get a sense of when they might be using it.

I've also joked with some friends before about how if you just act like you know what you're doing, you won't be questioned.  But, obviously nobody wants to get detained for trespassing or anything like that.
In lieu of all these stealthy plots, I guess the appropriate thing to do would be just to call them and ask them.  But even if they were okay with it, they would probably frown on me wearing my balaclava within a 500-foot radius of their students.

Thou Shalt Not Bandit
Amy had posted yesterday about the Cowtown Marathoner that got disqualified for wearing a friend's bib to run the race. 

It got me thinking about all of the postings on Craigslist for people selling their race bibs.  I've never purchased a race bib from someone else.  But, admittedly for some of the very popular, sold-out races, it's been tempting.  Especially when people are just trying to unload their bibs for half the price they paid.  It would be nice to be able to go run a sold-out race for fun at the last minute, without having to plan for it for months in advance.  Admittedly I've also thought about the possibility of trying to sell my bib if I couldn't run some of my own races (knock on wood that I will never incur a "DNS").

The tipping point for me is that I have seen a lot of those episodes of Dateline where they go undercover to nab predators or criminals at the point of "transaction."  I fear that if I were to ever purchase or sell a race bib, that I would be filmed by a hidden camera, met by some kind of law-enforcement official, arrested, and put on America's Most Wanted - the Runners Edition.

That would be a tough one to overcome.

10 comments:

  1. "The tipping point for me is that I have seen a lot of those episodes of Dateline where they go undercover to nab predators or criminals at the point of "transaction." I fear that if I were to ever purchase or sell a race bib, that I would be filmed by a hidden camera, met by some kind of law-enforcement official, arrested, and put on America's Most Wanted - the Runners Edition."

    ---

    The guy who hosts those shows on NBC is almost as creepy as the people they bring down. so I say keep your distance...!

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    1. Agreed. It must be tough for any journalist that has to deal with these types of stories on an extended basis. Ugh.

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  2. Brooks Glycerin!! I have those - we are practically sisters now since we have the same running shoes - LOL! I love them, by the way, let me know if you do too.

    Our high school track is open to the community, although it is a public school and the taxpayers are paying money to maintain it. Is the school you mention private or public? If private, I'd call first. If public, I'd use it!

    No idea on the selling of bibs thing - interesting...

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    1. That's right, I remember you just got a pair of the Brooks Glycerin shoes a few weeks ago! Between the Mizunos and now these, I think we have very similar tastes in running shoes. Therefore, I'm really glad to hear that the Glycerins have worked well for you! We are shoe sisters, for sure. =) How about your Saucony Pro Grids, how are they working for you?

      Good call on the public vs private school distinction. St. Ignatius is private, so will definitely be picking up the phone!

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    2. The Pro Grids are working out well too, at first though they hurt the outside muscle of my foot (which according to an image I googled is my "Lateral Plantar Fascia"). So, I am certainly glad I took your advice and bought two pairs of shoes to rotate. After the first 2 runs I haven't had that discomfort in the Pro Grids, but for now I'm keeping them as my short run shoes just in case. The Glycerin's are AWESOME! I love them and they've successfully taken me through my 3 last long runs (11-13 mi each). I also like the toe socks, although, I switch back and forth between my Balgas and Injinji's. Sometimes I want cushion (Balga) and other times I want toe separation (Injinji).

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    3. Ouch on the lateral plantar fascia - sounds painful! Glad that the advice to buy both pairs of running shoes worked out, and even more excited now to try the Glycerins based on your comments. ;) I have Balega running socks, too, and absolutely love them! The Injinji socks look interesting - will have to discuss those in more detail next time we catch up in person!

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  3. Thanks for the shout out! There's a high school track near me, but I've only ever used it once. There was some other runner on the track at the same time, and she yelled at me a few times. That turned me off to the whole "running on the track" thing. Hopefully you'll have better luck!*

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    1. Yikes! What a horrible experience to have a runner yell at you a few times while using a track - sorry to hear that you had to go through that! I would be very apprehensive about running on a track if someone yelled at me, too!

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  4. thanks for joining the vegan challenge, hope it is going well so far!

    i am a total running shoe junkie and ZBsports has long been my supplier ;) I really am trying to keep it to a couple types right now

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    1. Thanks Amanda! I'm really appreciating how tough it is for vegans at restaurants or at company functions, etc. - people just assume that everyone is non-vegan. Wow.

      I actually first heard about zbsports through your blog. =) So thanks for the referral because they have such great deals and I love how they donate part of their proceeds back to charitable orgs!

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