A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Smells of Running

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I bet you thought I was going to talk about stinky running clothes, huh? Well, I'm not.

I'm going to talk about food!

While on my run this afternoon I got to thinking about all the foods I've smelled while running. It seems to me that many of my running routes have taken me by restaurants or bakeries or other places that emit yummy odors.

As I've mentioned previously, I live across the street from a candy factory and any time I run in my neighborhood I run past their building. Frequently the air smells of orange or lemon or grape.

Another place I run by frequently is the bakery in my town's little downtown area. And, yes, it often smells like donuts. Or pastries. Or something sugary. Something about the smell of donuts gets me every time. It's a good thing I don't carry money with me when I run otherwise I fear I'd end up in the bakery instead of running. And I don't even LIKE donuts!

Speaking of donuts, the year I started running regularly I ran with a women's running group once a week. We were training to run our first 5K race. Our usual running path took us past the local county fair grounds. Since our goal race was in September, we ran that path through the height of fair season. Any idea how difficult it is to focus on running when the smell of funnel cake and corn dogs is wafting past?

Several years ago I belonged to a gym that shared a building with various other retail establishments. One of those establishments was a Chinese restaurant. I would dutifully walk from my office to the gym, do my work out, and then walk to my car. Past the Chinese restaurant. Which always smelled like heaven at 6PM. Yet, believe it or not, I never once stopped in for take-out.

Other than the lovely smell of donuts, there was nothing good about today's run. I felt like a slow, plodding mass. My legs felt heavy, my intestines rumbled and threatened to do something horrible with every step, the wind blew in my face both out AND back. Looking at my splits it seems I ran a reverse tempo run. Started out fast, slowed down in the middle, and ended with a fast mile. Very strange.

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Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:628 ft
Location:Forest Park, ILElev. Gain:+0 ft
Date:04/22/09Up/Downhill: [+88/-88]
Time:02:08 PMDifficulty:2.1 / 5.0
 
Weather:Partly Cloudy and Breezy
 61 F temp; 26% humidity
 61 F heat index; winds W 24 G 31
Performance

Distance: 5.01 miles
Time:0:50:09
Speed:6.0 mph
Pace:10' 01 /mi
Calories:513
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
19' 41-0' 206.2+0.2+3 ft
29' 54-0' 076.1+0.1+10 ft
310' 13+0' 125.9-0.10 ft
49' 57-0' 046.0+0.0-10 ft
59' 47-0' 146.1+0.1-3 ft
end9' 20-0' 416.4+0.40 ft
Versus average of 10' 01 min/mile

Posted from bimactive.com

4 comments:

kilax said...

It smelled like donuts outside today when I was walking to meet a friend for lunch and wow... those donuts smelled good! Isn't it crazy how food smells make us crave the food, even if we don't like it?

kristen said...

Sometimes on Saturday morning I do my long runs down along the water where I live. There are also a ton of great restaurants on the water and they all woft smells of greasy yummy breakfass. It pains me not to stop and eat an omlette.

Bayjb said...

Gosh I love the smell of donuts. The smell of fresh baked goods are my favorite too

Jess said...

There's one route I take that brings me right past a McDonald's. Normally, I'm not a big fan of fast food, but there's soemthing about smelling those fries when out on a run that is SO tempting!

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