Wednesday, November 11, 2009

treasure!

In preparing for my marathon, I've been obsessing about what I'm going to wear, how i'm going to fix my hair, how I'm going to stay cool... stay warm... stay dry... stay warm... oh, I said that twice.

TODAY I found my "pre-start" sweatshirt! Yeah baby! It's actually a Victoria's Secret PJ topI got as a christmas present when I still lived at home. For those who don't know me that well, I haven't lived at home since 1994. It's not unattractive, it's my favorite color green, but it never worked for me, it was itchy, and yet, I packed it up and hauled it around for 15 years. Why? I don't know... I have made hundreds of goodwill trips in those 15 years, but this item was lost on a shelf, flying under the radar in plain view. Now, it will a be a Pre Marathon shirt for me, and a treasure for a homeless person after the race. (I think I understand correctly that the cast offs go to the Union Mission or some similar location in Richmond). The pants shouldn't be a huge problem, I have some old XL clothes hanging around in my closet. In fact, I believe I have a pair of sweat pants that fell off during Stroller Strides last week.

Now that THAT is taken care of, I do have one thing that is plauging me. The issue is this: I had a problem the whole time I trained that I was never able to solve. My hair. I tried hats, pony tails, piggy tails, braids... when I wear a pony tail or pig tails my hair (which is fine and thick) knots up into a dread-lock that can sometimes take 30 minutes to untangle. But, the time I wore a braid it bothered me until I eventually pulled it out mid-stride and rewound the annoying hair into a pony tail... and had a big knot to untangle.

I have this vision of me (in my dreams, I am an elite athlete & I go fast) running with my hair flying behind me in all it's glorious flowing brown, er, ness. Brownness. So - pony tail or two tails are a must if I'm going with that fashionable fantasy... but, by around mile 13 I know my hair will actually be a chorded knot of ratty brownness. (I assume 13, because that's when I've been photographed finishing a 1/2 marathon). A hat neither helps nor hurts. It's just a good place to store sunglasses in case of clouds, or it shields the rain if we run into any - which we did a lot this fall.

I hate to try something new. Which is worse? Having a giant knotted mess of hair in my finish line photo? OR Being annoyed by a single braid for 26.2 miles? Or looking like PIPPY LONGSTOCKING for 26.2 miles? AND, is there another choice?

((Why am I fretting over my finish line photo? I'll likely just look like a well dressed coked out crack addict who's wandered onto the course at this point... seriously, did you SEE my mile 7 photos from Patrick Henry in August?))

3 comments:

Chele said...

you could try cornrows. Wish I could be there. My old boss ran marathons and my friend & I would plan out places over NY or Chicago or such to cheer her on. Good luck.

momma cobb said...

have you tried putting it in a bun? if you put it in a pony first using 2 bands then wrap it around with 2 more bands, it should hold, look cute and be out of your way. i can't remember the name but use the gripper ones that you can get at target/walmart. good luck!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

The fantasy...soooo FUNNY!!

I have thick hair, although it does not become dredlocks. In my Marathon I did doulbe French Braids, then tucked the braids up and connected with a pony tail. It worked really well. But if you don't know how to french braid or have access to someone who can then??

I NEED a picture of this sweatshirt..LOL!! The pre-race throw away clothes photos are always my faves.. Rock it girly..

Ummm so TMB found me on Facebook.. Can we be friends too?? Hugs!