Children of the 21st Century are sort of notorious for having a lack of respect in general and toward adults in particular. I think most of that is poppycock and comes under the heading “In MY day we had to walk 5 miles to school in the snow and it was uphill both ways!” but once in a while something happens that I find stunning in it’s blatant display of cockiness. Friday was one of those days.
I went for a run and as I ran past 7-11 which is across the street from a little mall area I noticed 3 boys just sort of hanging out. I didn’t think anything of it until something crash landed near my feet and exploded. I think it was an apple. I stopped dead in my tracks, looked across the street and realized that one of those kids had lobbed it at me. They were hooting and in hysterics with laughter. I wasn’t quite sure what to do but there was no way I was going to ignore it so I started running across the street straight at them. I think those boys were about as stunned as I was when the apple hit the ground and they started to run away then they stopped, looking furtively over their shoulders. I had no idea what I would did if I caught them so I just yelled “Keep Going! Don’t Stop!” and they did. And then they stopped and looked over their shoulders and there I was, still standing in the street. I yelled at them again “Don’t stop now! Keep moving!” and they did, finally jumping a fence and heading behind a building.
I felt pretty powerful putting 3 young teens on the run. They clearly had at least a little respect or they would have just gotten in my face. If they try lobbing anything at me again I will keep chasing them until they puke.
Saturday I went for a bike ride with my friends. I picked a relatively flat course because one of my friends has a ruptured disk and the hills make her back hurt. I learned something really valuable on this ride. Try not to laugh when I tell you this but I figured out that if I start falling behind, all I have to do is put the bike in a higher gear and push a little harder on the pedals and I can catch up. IT’S A MIRACLE! Really. That whole ‘harder, harder, faster, faster!’ thing is good in more ways than one.
On the way back we stopped for coffee and a scone and then we finished the ride – 45 miles in all. I put the bike in the house, changed my clothes to running gear, checked my email and headed back out the door for a 4 mile run. I had thought that I would head straight up a steep hill but part way up I decided I couldn’t do all of my catch up training at once and hung a left which put me going in the downhill direction. I knew I would have to go uphill at the end and that was soon enough. I covered 4 miles. It wasn’t fast (45 mins) and it wasn’t pretty but I got it done!
So that means that I really and truly can do Wildflower. The first 25 miles of my ride took about 1:57 and the run was 45 so I’m thinking I can do WF in just under 4 hours. That puts me at the bottom of the middle of the pack or the top of the bottom of the pack which is just about where I belong.
I had intended to test my nutrition plan for the race, also. I wonder if I could choke down an orange/current scone in T1. If I could, I’d be so money.
My new Wildflower motto is “HARDER, HARDER, FASTER, FASTER” ’cause I know it feels so right.
21st-century-mom.com 
Yes!!!! HARDER, FASTER..BABY!!!!!!!! You will so rock this course!!! I love your attitude.
Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watchya gonna do?
Watchya gonna do when 21st Century Mom is after you!
HARDER AND FASTER…I am going to start calling you HHFF or “huff” for short!
Under four hours aint so shabby lady!
I would stick a scone in my jersey or in the back of my pants if I knew it worked for me! (In a plastic bag of course!)
Way to go!
And about the kids…I bet they think twice before they hurl any more apples at lady runners.
(For the record I have been known to chase and confront offenders also…men…and they usually high-tail it and/or end up apologizing for their stupid “actions”!)
Good for you for confronting those boys. Hopefully they learned a lesson. Kids just do stupid things sometimes.
Now see, I can’t get my training partners to stop for a coffee and scone if I tried. I make up for it by hooking asking for beer from fisherman in our lake and drinking on the boat while they swim by cursing me.
I relate to your apple deal. I had passenger splash me with soda a few years back and they hit a red light. I sprinted to them and they were obviously in a fix b/c they didn’t expect that. I caught the car and began pummeling the side window and threatening them and the guy got really upset and apologetic through the raised window.
Punks are punks.
No more lobbing fruit your way. I love the way you handled the situation. 🙂
They should know never to pick a fight with someone they can’t outrun!
Feh. Sometimes, I do wonder about kids these days. Yeah, I know that adults have been wondering about kids these days since my grandparents were tots, but still. What the heck?!
The best punk kid result would have been you chasing them for three miles and convincing them they should take up running.
Hi Mal here
Here doing my first tri Sat week May 5
Keep going on your wildflower program looking good
Cheers
Mal
you are peaking for wildflower!
you ARE so money 21st — just for toe’ing the line and representin’ — don’t EVAH lose track of your reasons!
short story: when i first lived in Toronto, there was a running shoe store in The Beaches, the area where I was renting. Two male youths went into the running shoe store, and stole some clothing, as they were attempting their getaway, the female worker yelled at them ‘hey!’, and they bolted. she followed in pursuit, these two dudes are sprinting in their escape, and she’s just striding behind them… they start to slow, and she’s yelling at them ‘drop the merchandise, i can keep this pace up ALL FREAKIN’ DAY! of course they dropped the goods, and started hopping fences as outrunning her was not gonna happen! your story reminded me of this one, kids gotta watch out if they mess with endurance women!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would love to train back in the old days when it was uphill both ways!
You are very ready for Wildflower.
wtg, mom! and if you ever see my son doing anything like that – not only chase him but give me a call and i will chase him too. disrespect like that is unacceptable by anyone in my book.
you’re gonna rock wildflower. no doubt about it.
What ho me old colonials!
This idea of taking photos first thing in the morning might be OK for you 21st century Moms – but let me tell you that this kiddie here is fed up with being chased around by the paparazzi looking for that exclusive shot.
Anyway, I digress.
The Gold Medal’s in the bag.
Did my first practice of the 2012 Olympic course on Sunday and it was a piece of cake.
For an incisive mile-by-mile account of the London Marathon, check out http://www.ronhillsalterego.blogspot.com
Keep on tapering
Ron
OF COURSE you can do Wildflower, silly girl!! But replace “harder, harder, faster, faster” with “pace yourself”. 🙂
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