Happy to be Alive

I am tapering for my "big" race this Sunday--an Olympic distance that I have no goals for other than to work as hard as I can. I have been "not training" quite a lot--8 straight weeks of 17+ hours. But it's all been fun. Still, I know I need some rest when I sleep almost 11 hours as I did last night!

I tend to forget all the close calls I've had with cars while out biking and running. Yes, running! A few years ago, I switched from running mostly on the roads near home to running on the sidewalks, after I read that the hardness of asphalt and concrete are much closer than I once believed. Plus, I figured sidewalks are safer. Well that has not always proven to be true, and yesterday was another example.

Drivers have become worse and worse over the years, believing that they can focus on driving a 2-ton piece of metal while also yelling and grabbing at their kids, putting on makeup, gesturing wildly while talking on their cell phones, etc. Me? I still use my turn signals and rarely if ever talk on the phone. I am very conscious of pedestrians, runners and cyclists because I am one myself. At intersections, I look left and right. I try and drive very defensively and mindfully.

You would think running on sidewalks is not so dangerous, right? You would be wrong. I can't tell you how many times I have been cut off by cars when I have the right away even when there is a stop sign or stop light. Cars rolling through stop signs or barely stopping. People parking their cars so they block the sidewalk making it impossible to tell if someone is backing out of the other side of the driveway. I know most urban areas conspire against locomoting without a car and this is a factor in the soaring obesity rates. But I digress.

Yesterday I was about 1.5 miles from home when I was cut off by a minivan turning right into a driveway into a daycare center at a park. I was on the sidewalk, the driver was on the cellphone with a child in the back seat standing up not wearing a seat belt. The kid was waving his arms wildly and the driver was oblivious as to why someone would be on the sidewalk doing anything, I guess. I was running downhill, and I saw the minivan, so I hit the brakes. The minivan was clearly exceeding the speed limit and not paying attention. I was a bit miffed, and wanted to give the driver a piece of my mind. The driver was now parked in front of the day care center and I began walking that way. I decided not to confront, just to use the water fountain and give a look like, "Did you even fucking NOTICE me?" The driver was texting, I think. Really trying to ignore me.

There had been a lawn service truck with trailer behind the minivan, and he had pulled into the parking lot. The driver smiled at me, and so I asked if he saw what happened, and he had. He said, "She cut you off." He said he'd seen me running at least 1/4 mile back and knowing that he was turning into a park where (huge surprise) lots of children hang out and play that he should slow down before turning in.

Once again, I was just happy to be alive. About15 minutes later, after I'd done some strides in the park and run a bit more, I got to an intersection with a stop light and noticed that something was still there that I'd encountered on a few previous runs. It's one of these. The first time I saw it, I didn't know what it was and since I have a collection of small toys I've found while out running and biking, I was curious to see what it was. So I unscrewed it and figured out it was bubbles, so I made a bunch and was laughing. I mean, how can you not smile and laugh while making bubbles? I did get some odd looks from drivers probably wondering why someone who is clearly out for a run was making bubbles at a busy intersection. That day (I think it was over a week ago), I decided some kid probably was missing his/her toy, so I put the wand down and left it there. I must have run by it twice more last week and either forgot about it or didn't want to take time to play with it. But yesterday I saw it was still there. There wasn't much soap left in it (meaning others had stopped to play with it, too!), but I worked to get whatever I could out of it, having forgotten I had almost been killed just a short time before. This time, I noticed a few drivers who actually smiled at seeing me acting all childlike, but there were also some glum faces. When I was convinced I was out of soap, I put the wand back down under the stop light and ran home.

Why were those bubbles there? Maybe someone was secretly filming at the intersection to see who would play with them. I may have to go and buy some more bubble solution and refill the wand and check and see that it gets used. At any rate, I forgot all about the minivan, and certainly about being angry that it had happened.

During this break from serious training, I've noticed many people smiling at me while I'm running. Sometimes I think they wonder why that old lady is running half naked (I still get glares from plenty of women). Sometimes I get looks while I'm riding Skull Kingdom that I'm some sort of heathen (why else would I have skulls all over my bike?). But the smiles are great. It makes me wonder whether I hadn't noticed them before or whether I look happier and that is why they are smiling at me. Maybe it's a little bit of both.

What was the point of this post? A few things: pay attention while driving, be grateful and don't forget to stop and play with random toys!