So its hot. If you live in Northeast Ohio, you might have realized this.
Given that I'm training again and will be running regularly in summer-esque (or apparently Hades-esque after today) weather, I decided to make a trip to Vertical Runner after work to get a water belt (excuse me - fuel belt).
I had hoped to just slide under the radar (I'm always a little intimidated in running stores), go to the back of the store and get my belt and be on my way. No such luck.
A gentlemen approached me and asked if I needed help. Crap, an employee and a real runner-dude is talking to me, I thought.
"No thanks, I'm just looking for a water belt," I said.
"Are you training for a race?" he asked me.
"Yes, for the Akron marathon," I said, rather hesitantly.
"Oh, have you run a half before?", he asked sort of skeptically with concern.
I felt myself starting to stand up straighter as I heard myself say, "yes, I ran the Cleveland half in May and it was great!"
Then, he started asking me some other questions and gave me a card with contact information about a running group. I reluctantly took the card.
He helped me select a water belt and then I said with my new found confidence,
"What else do I need?"
He then pointed me in the right direction for some other things I might need for my training. As I was getting ready to check out he told me that I was a little ahead of the folks in the running group - they were all first time 1/2 or full marathoners and they were in a 6 month training program so their long runs weren't that long yet. He asked me what my time for the half was and I told him - 2:31 and he said, "oh, yeah, you would be perfect for this group." With the words "you " and "perfect" in a sentence directed to me about running, I thought I had indeed escaped Hades and died and gone to heaven instead!
I walked out with the following haul:
One (1) 3-bottle water belt
One (1) container of Glide
One (1) giant container of Blueberry Pomegranate sports drink powder mix
Four (4) different types of energy/protein chews to try
One (1) connection to a cool running group to try and
One (1) boost to my "running self esteem"!
We really like Vince also. He's really knowledgeable and runs a ton. You'll love the body glide if you haven't already used it. BTW - what kind of socks do you run in?
ReplyDeleteI own like 6 pair of running socks...three that I got initially from Second Sole and three that I got from Dick's. They are all supposed to do the wicking thing...but I should probably invest in some new at some point.
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