Friday, March 13, 2009

This is what the little girl from the story below reminds me of. except she was chubbier.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

I am running the Salt Lake marathon on April 18th. As such, I have a pretty strict training schedule which I adhere to.
The other day I was out doing a 5 miler (it was my short day). I was thoroughly enjoying it-- it was so warm outside. There were no clouds. I could feel the sun baking my pasty winter face, you know, just that wonderful feeling when the sun warms your skin. I love that.
The music playing on my ipod was very summery feeling. I had it blasting.
I had been running good and hard and was down to my very last mile. Because I had been running so hard, I had worked up a good amount of saliva. Occasionally, I would turn my head to the side and spit, if you will. I know, it's gross right? But I haven't found a better alternative.

Throughout my run, I noticed a young girl on her bike. She was probably about 10 years old. She had really really really thick glasses. Really. They looked like magnifying glasses and made her poor little eyes look humongous.
She had ratty hair, about to her shoulders. In the basket of her bike, she had a rock collection, McDonald's cup, a few sticks, and various assundry items. She wore a navy blue hoodie that probably belonged to her dad (who was probably a very, very large man).
She rode her bike at about the pace that I run.

I hadn't seen her for a while. My thoughts were focused on the sun, the sounds, the spring smells.
I had worked up another set of saliva in my mouth. I turned my head to the left to spit. And then I saw her. It was too late. I watched in slow motion as the loogie flew through the air, and yes, you guessed right, landed right smack in the center of her forehead (I don't know how it missed her ginormous glasses).
There was instant shrieking. Shrieking and hands flipping in the air. EWWW. EEwWWWWW. I wish everyone could experience the sound of this poor little girls shrieking. I have never heard anything like it. At best, I would imagine it sounded similiar to what a Taradactul would sound like. I choked back laughter while this little girl choked back tears.
I tried to calm her down and make sure she was ok (I understand, this must have been the most traumatizing moment... i felt HORRIBLE) but the longer I tried to help her, the funnier it got. So, after I had determined that she was going to survive, I just kind of patted her on the back and went on my merry way.
Hopefully I didn't ruin her life.
And hopefully no one saw me as I finished my run, as I stopped to laugh about every 100 feet.