I've had Garmin running watches for nearly 15 years now and for some reason never taken advantage of the built-in coaching programmes.
Started one just over a week ago (target of 10k in eight-minute-mile pace by Christmas). Really enjoying the variety of the runs it sets you. Had a long, slow eight-miler this morning but was doing sprint intervals on Tuesday.
Hopefully by calves and quads hold up so I can do one of these runs around Central Park in a couple of weeks.
They're pretty good. Can't use them myself as I run with people when I can. I have a sort of failure voices in my head that tell me I can't run despite evidence to the contrary. It's either rambling conversation or stupidly loud music that keeps me going. A denizen of this hallowed place does excellent playlists.
It was nice today, so went for a (short) bike ride. An actual bike ride though (no pub stops).
Almost got banned/cancelled from Park Run this morning.
While running, I was recounting to my friend who I often run with, how another friend, Rob, always just finds a girl with a nice bum and follows her round the course. He says it helps him take his mind off running! We kind of laughed and kept going. But this 60+ year old woman jogs up beside us, has a go at us for eyeing up the arse of a girl in front of us (we weren't) then runs off. End of the race she gets the race director to come over, and continues how disgusting we are and she doesn't feel safe and she wants us banned from parkrun!
I tried to explain to her that, whilst inappropriate and ill advised to repeat the story, we weren't even talking about us/now and certainly weren't eyeing up any other women in the race! She misheard. Very sorry.
Had to apologise for about ten minutes before she kind of left it. The race director just looked bemused with it all. Said I'm not sure what you really want me to do here. She walked away angry. Clearly didn't accept our recounting (which was the truth).
Partially mortified and ashamed, partially fuming. Stupid cow.
Recounted the above to Mrs Rave. Her response was 'I'd have told her to fuck off'.
She doesn't take prisoners. Especially after wine.
I too would've been embarrassed, but then I wouldn't have been having the conversation in the first place. One of the best pieces of advice I ever had was 'you never know who is listening'. That was in reference to being on stage with the show relay live and broadcasting all over the theatre, but it holds true elsewhere.
Yeah, my wife said the best way to avoid it would have been to not make inappropriate comments in public spaces, and it's hard to fault her logic. Lesson learned.
I'm busy, so can't go the next few weeks anyway, which is probably a good thing.
This is almost 'you shag one sheep' territory. I wouldn't class you in the LADZLADZLADZ category, but the 1 time you were a little bit LADZ someone heard and took offence. However that is of course to some degree on her as well taking offence to a public conversation that didn't involve her.
Reporting you was a nonsense.
Anyway - next time tell her that that Dave Rave off of Talkback christened you Mince. She might end up (Grand)Mothering you.
I'd just have looked at her arse and said "Yeah, don't worry luv. You're safe.".
Did she really not feel safe on back of that comment?
She must hardly ever leave her house or be in a perpetual state of fear if so. There's a lot worse shit to be scared of than that conversation.
100% felt like a phrase she was wheeling out to try and get the Race Director to take some action rather than what she actually felt.
I wanted to ask her in what way she didn't feel safe ... What did she think I was about to do?! But also just wanted it to end so reigned in my arguments. Guy I was with is about 12 stone, bespectacled, and a (stereotype) Professor of Law at York University. Two less threatening people you'd struggle to find.
Next time run wrapped in an England flag and see what happens.
The use of "always" does make you sound a bit stalkery though, especially if you happened to be running behind a woman.
Arses are impossible to ignore. See also tits. To deny that is futile. How you behave around arses and tits is entirely with your control. You aren't a predator because some stuff looks compelling. Have you heard women speak? Filth. Less posturing would be better.
I 100% agree, fwiw. But I wouldn't be making comments about always stalking.
I think there are possible issues around sexualisation and objectification here. Are arses not ignorable? All arses? Or just sexualised arses?
If it's just sexy women's arses that you are talking about as something to take your mind off everything else. Then you probably have a shallow mind, and you are not giving any thought to how that might make other people feel. I could see how articulating that might make someone feel uncomfortable and in company that they didn't want to be in.
Like singing tits fanny and forest.
... And like singing that I would defend your right to say that. Because it's not against societies rules, and nor is the intent aggressive or threatening.
Which doesn't mean that we can't talk about it, and perhaps consider the appropriateness of sexualising strangers. I'm pretty sure that shades can do that with a modicum of charm and genuine consideration of boundaries, without making them fear that they might end up in a bin bag at the bottom of a river. As I'm genuinely sure that some people can't. Often really transparently so.
I find this sexualising randoms very strange. I also know it's quite unusual to feel like that (and not just because you all letch at actors and pedestrians in the spring that you don't know at all). Women are on to it. It's why they might overreact to mild misogyny, when more pithy examples are less safe to react to.
So a swing dancing specky uni nerd duo might be a safer outlet for the frustration from a lifetime of fear and oppression.
I can feel these things, and yet I also would have responded exactly as I said. It's not binary right and wrong, and there is an equal right to responding to the level and appropriateness of the challenge to you.
Life is complicated. If we don't embrace that and have conversations and empathy about it, and different peoples expectations and values, then we are going to set a really shit bunch of binary rules that only ever cause us all problems.
