Treadmills

Argh! I've just spent WAAAAY too long sitting in front of this computer trying to figure out how to publish more photos. I work in technology, yet I can't seem to figure out how to post one simple picture of me. Blah. I'll figure it out, hopefully in time to get some before and after photos of my fundraising head shaving. The good news is that money is already rolling in (thanks friends!) which means the bad news is that I definitely have to tell my mother about shaving my head. Eeek. Feel free to keep sending donations (checks made out to the American Cancer Society, of course). Y'all are awesome.

I love that all of you runners, bloggers, and quirky people are visiting my little site. Welcome. I love it too that all kinds of people are coming forward with their own OCD "quirks" which makes me feel a little more normal. OK, not really more NORMAL, but a little less alienated. So speaking of quirks, a suggestion was raised that I try treadmill running with people indoors. Oh man, I can't do it. To explain, I present you another list.

Mateo's list of why I don't like running on a treadmill.

1. I'm very outdoorsy. I would much rather be running on trails or even on the streets. When running, I prefer getting fresh air and seeing the beauty of nature over watching the Weather Channel. (Nothing against the good people at the Weather Channel, I just prefer to experience the weather, not simply watch it.)

2. I'm a spitter. I know it sounds gross, but I salivate a lot... especially when I run. So I have to spit a lot. A lot, a lot. One time, I forgot that I was indoors and almost spit on this poor girl running on the treadmill next to me. Yuck. I salivate so much that my dentist once suggested that I be in a saliva study. Weird.

3. I'm a toucher. If you've read this blog from the beginning, you know that I'm very tactile. I love to touch things. When I run, I actually NEED to touch things, especially when transitioning from walking to running. It comes from when I was fat and first started running. I used to run sprints "from this tree to that sign" and touch them both. Now, I need to touch things when I run. I even have my friends touching things. Tee hee hee.

4. I don't particularly like to know my exact speed and distance. Part of the fun of running is just that. RUNNING. Just getting out and doing it. Some days you're fast, some days you're slow. Some days you want to run 3 miles, some days you want to run 13.

5. My dog can't come to the gym with me. If I had to choose between running 5 miles on a treadmill with Katie Couric or running 5 miles outdoors with my pooch... well... sorry, Katie.

6. The cardio room in my gym is WAY too hot. It's as though they decided to combine the cardio room with the sauna. Although I lost a ton of weight, I'm still a fat man. Let me tell you, fat men sweat a LOT in the heat. Yuck.

7. I don't like to run around other gym people. I always think they're looking at me funny. Truth be told, they usually are looking at me funny because I'm always jamming out to my MP3 player. I can't help it, sometimes a man has to shake his groove thang.

8. There's no ice cream at the gym. Yes, I run a lot, and I eat a lot of ice cream. My eight mile loop actually includes a stop at the local Dairy Queen on the way home. Cherry dilly bars have become such a part of my running routine that I actually have a tab at the DQ. Yes, I do. Quit laughing. Seriously.

Well, that's enough reasons for now. There are more, of course. I have so many little running quirks. I'll tell you more later. I know you all have your running quirks, so let me know what they are. We can have a good laugh at ourselves together.

By the way, I have one of my favorite races tomorrow. It's only 9 miles, and it's a time prediction race, so the person who finishes closest to their predicted time wins. So even the slowest runners (like me) can win. Yippee! Plus, they always have the best post-race snacks and door prizes. I'm totally stoked. Maybe this time, I'll finally win that ham!

Run on, people.