Runners are CRA-ZY!!!

I have seen my share of crazy people in my lifetime. Heck, I used to work in a mental hospital when I was in college. And like most people, my family has it's share of the mentally unstable (I kid, kind of). Lately I have seen and heard about some runners doing some crazy things. I guess I'm not as hardcore as others, and maybe that's why I consider myself a "wannabe" runner, or a jogger, rather than an actual runner in the athletic sense of the word. Here's a few examples of the crazies I've seen running around:

• Today, as I was leaving my house to drive to my second home Target, I saw a man running down the sidewalk in my neighborhood. On any given day, that would be fine and dandy, except today is not any given day. You see, we are under a heat advisory here in the great Ohio River Valley. We have been warned not to spend too much time outside, to not exert ourselves from the hours of noon until 7pm while outside, and to stay indoors if at all possible. Our heat is a HUMID heat, so 92 degrees feels more like 102. I saw this fellow running around 3:30 p.m. this afternoon. The hottest part of the day. Why???? Runner's are CRAZY!

• Last Monday, on the 4th of July, I was enjoying fireworks at my in-law's house around 10:30 p.m. There were probably 4 or 5 houses around us lighting off fireworks in the middle of the street. Not just small ones. Some large, explosive things that scared me. And suddenly, this women comes jogging by (wearing running clothes, so I know she wasn't just running to get away from somebody). Now I'm all for running at night when it's cooler (ahem, Mr. heat advisory runner), but right down the middle of the street where everyone is shooting off fireworks after dark??? Isn't that how people lose an eye??? Runner's are CRAZY!!!

Clearly, I kid about these runners having mental health issues, but to the average person who is not a runner, some of the things we do seem so, well, crazy. Running has caused me to go outside my comfort zone physically and mentally, and if that makes me appear crazy to the average non-runner, then so be it!

I wish I had the guts to run outside no matter the weather, time of day or presence of explosives. I can only hope that I will not be afraid to be a little crazy when necessary, and train for and run this half marathon no matter what. That we shall see...

*This post was inspired by Running on Faith's post "Running makes me look crazy". Check it out, so true!