Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Me, Irritable?

I'm irritated that I'm irritable.  I've felt this way for a while.  I don't want to feel this way, so that just becomes another irritant.  But, instead of harping on my specific day to day irritations -- clearly due to gender, age and stress, I thought I'd touch on the marathon I just ran because it's fresh in my mind.

Do not misunderstand, Chicago is a beautiful city.  I had a spectacular weekend, met some incredible people and will talk about all the lovelies and goose-bumpy feels in my race recap.  Running the Chicago Marathon was a tremendous opportunity and one I'll be forever grateful for.  But yeah, there were a few things that got under my skin. 

Upon my arrival Friday, I spent more time in a cab in gridlocked traffic than I did on the airplane.  In fact, time got so tight I was afraid I'd miss the Meet Meb and Sarah Crouch Event sponsored by Generation UCAN that I was lucky enough to be included in (thank you Marcia!).  Last minute, I asked the cab driver to take me straight to the expo instead of my hotel, where I proceeded to drag my baggage around for many hours.  I apologize to everyone I hit with it!   On top of that, I felt covered in airport/cab grime and stench.  Hopefully Meb, Sarah nor my blogger buddies noticed.


Chicago, you are a beautiful city!

I was also irritated to be placed in one of the last corrals.  Honestly, I think this was due to my DNS last year as my estimated finish time for this year did not warrant it.  I kept telling myself it didn't matter.  But did it?  Not only did I have to dodge the expected throngs of people running a different pace, sewer caps, grates, bad pavement, discarded clothing and accessories, and maneuver through the seas of discarded drinking cups and whatnot -- but I also dodged spectators.  Spectators!  Too many times to count, they crossed right in front of me to reach the opposite side of the street.  Bad spectator etiquette!  Bad. 

I admit after my ever-so-graceful swan dive into the pavement in mile 12 or so, I was not the most pleasant person at the first aid station.  I kept barking at them to hurry up!  They wanted me to sit down but I refused.  After an eternity they got the bleeding stopped, or at least slowed enough to wrap my knees.  Then, they proceed to whip out what appeared to be very wide, clear packing tape.  Once again, I was less than kind.  "I can't run with that around my knees!"  "Ma'am we don't have bandages wide enough."  "Don't you have some gauze?"  On and on and on...an irritable black hole of time!  {I did thank them profusely when I was free to go.}

Speaking of my fall, I fear this race will forever be thought of as "the one where I fell".  And that irritates me.  I don't want my experience to be overshadowed by it.  I'm trying hard to at least think of it as "the one where I got up".  

Again, don't think my Chicago Marathon experience was a bad one.  In fact, I highly recommend it. There were so many positives which I promise to get to later.  But today's Wednesday Word is IRRITABLE -- which was apparently suggested by me at some point.  So BOOM, there you go!  A dump truck full. 

Oddly...I feel better now.


Does anything make you irritable?



I'm linking up with Deb @ Deb Runs for the Wednesday Word.

Please visit Deb and the other participating bloggers.  It's fun!










34 comments:

  1. This made me smile....in a compassionate, I've-been-there sort of way. It's frustrating (actually, downright IRRITATING) to have everything play out as planned, only to have a couple unforeseen glitches make an appearance. Yes, this is the race where you "got back up." ;-)

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    1. I've always said you never know what you'll get on race day and it's how you handle it that counts. Never, did I think I would fall but it's just part of it. I'm thankful I was not seriously injured.

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  2. That makes me sad that at such a large race the med tents were not prepared for such an injury. They should have had that gauze for your knee. I don't know how you finished with that packing tape on your knee! I look forward to hearing more about your race in your recap!

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    1. They ended up using gauze pads and wrapping my knees in that non adhesive stretchy tape that sticks to itself but told me it would fall off pretty quickly. It lasted 10 miles! I couldn't believe they wanted to use packing tape! LOL.

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  3. Chicago traffic is the worst! When I got the invite to the UCAN meet up, my first thought was--drive downtown on a Friday evening? And it was as a bad as I knew it would be. But then I walked into the room and shook hands with Meb and hugged you and my irritation melted away.

    Life in the big city, right? And by the way, you did not smell! I loved our dinner--it felt good to sit and unwind.

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    1. I expected the Friday traffic to be bad, but I thought I was arriving early enough for it to not be an issue. It did feel so good to sit down and unwind after a long day! We need to schedule another one of those dinners!

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  4. We had our own fun with big city traffic yesterday, but we were under no time pressure to get anywhere; my sympathies!

    The most amazing thing is you could easily have said this was your worst race experience ever (if Mr. Judy raced, he'd probably think so) -- but no, you're focusing on the positives -- you're a class act!

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    1. I expected the Friday traffic to be bad but thought I had landed early enough to avoid it. HA!! I honestly was terrified I would fall again during the race.

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  5. I love it - "the one where you got up" - because THAT says so much about you. :)

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    1. Thanks, Shelley! Although shaken and afraid I might fall again, I was determined to not let that fall have the last say!

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  6. The traffic in Chicago is irritating on its best day. When the marathon, the Cubs and the President are in town it's positively ghastly. Wendy and I had some "bad spectator" encounters of our own. BUT nothing stops you. When HoHo runs, SHE RUNS!

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    1. The spectator thing was unexpected. I literally would have to "brake" and weave not to hit them. I wondered if that happens more often in the back of the pack?

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  7. That sucks about the time spent stuck in traffic in the cab. I would have done the same thing about changing my mind and going to the expo instead of risking missing out. But it sounds like a pain having to lug your bags around. I'm glad you at least go to the event in time!

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    1. It was surely a pain for everyone else that I was lugging around my bags. I'm afraid I hit quite a few people with it. LOL.

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  8. The bad thing about the spectators crossing over (obviously I've experienced that before) was they never had any clear space to do it. So, they'd take their chances and just dart through the runners.

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  9. Can't wait to read your recap ! You rock and it is 100% fine to be irritated over things like traffic, and everything else you name !

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    1. The travel aspect of a race can be very stressful! That is always the thing I am nervous about, never the race itself.

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  10. Aw man, I'm so sorry that Chicago ended up being an irritable experience! You did a great job despite falling, and yes you did get back up! I'm glad you feel better after venting!

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    1. Chicago was truly wonderful! There were just a few minor irritations. Today's word was IRRITABLE, so you know...I had to say something. LOL.

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  11. It doesn't take much for us to get impatient in a cab, seeing where we come from. It's just not something we are use too. Heck traffic jam in my town? Umm only when it's the first of the month at Walmart!
    I can't wait to hear more about your Chicago trip!

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    1. Slow traffic is one thing, but inching along for hours on end...ugh. It's a good thing I had a 3 hour window to get to the expo, I guess.

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  12. You just go on and vent! Chicago traffic is the absolute worst (I swear it's one of the reasons I moved away) and all of those things during a race would seriously IRRITATE me, too! I think most of us have been wrongly put in a back corral and it is so so frustrating. I'm going to remember this as the race where you were a badass :)

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    1. Obama was in town, the Cubs were in the playoff, and there was this little marathon thing happening. The traffic was INSANE.

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  13. Yeah, I can't remember which Wednesday Word it was, but you were describing something and after saying you were irritated about something, you put in parenthesis that irritable would be a great future WW). :-) Who would have thought it would be such a prefect word after your cab ride?

    I can't wait to read your race recap!

    Thanks for linking up!

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    1. Well, that sounds like me. HA. I admit I've been that way lately. At least the cab driver was helpful and gave me some great sightseeing tips. See??? Positivity (not irritability!).

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    1. Thank you my friend. Can't wait to see you soon!

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  15. Great job finishing despite the fall...I would've been irritated too...in fact the time I ran Chicago (my first) and it was going so well until my knee gave out at mile 17 and I hobbled to the finish line and Chicago is forever marked as "the race that sucked because my knee blew out"...So I think I MAY run it next year...we shall see!!!

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    1. You just never know what will happen. You kept going and finished. That is what counts!! I know you would enjoy a little redemption though.

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  16. Chicago traffic is awful! I hate that stressed out feeling you get sitting in traffic when you really need to be somewhere. Looking forward to hearing all of the good stuff about Chicago!

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    1. Now I know! I thought I was coming in early enough to avoid it. Wrong.

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  17. I'm enjoying your Chicago stories...piece by piece! :) Can't wait for the full recap!! I'm still in awe of you finishing with such a great time after a nasty fall. You will be "HoHoHero" to me from now on!

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    1. I hope I'll be able to remember something interesting enough to write about! My mind was all befuddled after the fall, for sure. You are too kind!

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  18. Oh Chicago traffic. So horrible. I loved living in Chicagoland for school but do not miss the traffic one bit. That is one thing that gets me super irritated as well. Sorry once again for the fall...I probably would've been the same way at the aid station.

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