43 days to go. I don’t know what to say. Except maybe, ooops.
As you know I am very, very good at procrastinating, and this time I have procrastinated about going and getting my running kit for tomorrow’s City2Surf. I can no longer procrastinate, since the race is tomorrow and you can’t run without your kit. I am wondering how much I want to run it.
I think it will take maybe 2 hours to drive in, park, line up, and drive home. Which is perfect because we are all heading to a friend’s for dinner in 2 1/2 hours!
As I head off, I am a little concerned by the traffic signs warning me about heavy delays at Moore Park. That’s where I’m heading. I should be fine though, its only a 25 minute drive. I’ve got plenty of time up my sleeve.
As the line of cars continues to crawl along at speeds the speedometer can’t even register, a car attempts to cut in front of me. I creep forward. He turns and glares at me. I use my eyes and hands to express the fact that I’ve been patiently waiting in line, why should I let him cut in? His reply is not as polite and restrained as mine. He continues to inch forward and I continue to refuse to let him in. Then I breathe. Who cares, the race kit collection point is closing in 5 minutes, and at this non-speed I’m at least 20 minutes away. Plus I’ve realised, his car is going to scratch my car (or should I say Jake’s car, since I’d taken his because he’d parked me in). It will cost me more time and energy to continue to push the point, than it will to just let him in. So I let him into the queue, and surprise, surprise, no thank-you wave. Jerk.
I watch as other cars let their passengers out. I watch the passengers sprint across the road and toward the race kit collection point. That is the benefit of running with someone. You don’t have to worry about parking the car or being in a traffic jam 400m from your destination.
Two hours later, as I creep down the final stretch of road to the car park, I pass the race kit collection point. Technically, it should be closed, but judging by the line out the front, it won’t close for quite a while.
As I turn into the car park, I realise I’ve made a huge mistake. The entrance gate I’ve used seems to lead only to the car wash area. Things are not going my way. As I wonder how to get to actual parking, I hear a voice call out “you can park here”. Not trusting my luck, I park and hop out. Did you just say I could park here? Yep, we’re closed, open parking now. Finally a bit of luck! I race across the street, only to be faced with another queue. It’s actually longer than it appeared from the car. It winds back and forth several times. As I search for the end of the line, I contact my friend to let her know we will be late for dinner. Luckily, she is extremely laid back, and since she knows me well, she’d already guessed we would be running late. Such a good friend, didn’t even freak out when I revealed that I was still in a line at Moore Park.
The good thing about lines, is meeting new people. I bonded with a couple of fellow runners who were equally frustrated with the amount of time this whole race kit collection was taking. We all agreed that Town Hall was the ideal location for this sort of thing. And they sympathised with my lateness to a dinner party.
Two and a half hours later, I had my race kit.
Three and a quarter hours later, I was back home collecting my family to head to our friend’s house for dinner.
Four hours later we finally arrived at dinner, only ninety minutes late.
This run better be worth it!
Exercise: Stressing about being late to dinner. And it’s always a rest day, the day before a race, even if it is shorter than the long runs I should be doing.
Eating: yummy Asian pork, with veggies and cake!