entertainments from the other side (of the finish line)

runners live and die by what we either deem to be lucky or unlucky.  much like the predictability and consistency of our stride, we are a creature of habit and tradition and do not enjoy surprises.  this holds for many non running aspects of our daily life, but our ritualistic nature never becomes so apparent than for our running events and days leading up to them.

i sat in my bedroom this morning pondering what to pack for the race.  in a sea of white and navy striped size XS victorias secret womens underpants, i fished out a lace turquoise thong and proudly announced (out loud) to an audience of exactly zero people that "these are my lucky underwear." and set them aside.  and then i thought for a minute- how old am i?  lucky underwear?  really?   i had to stop, sit back, and reflect on this.  what else had i packed?  my "favorite" turquoise sports bra- a gift from my sister- my "good" running skirt- a gift from my father, and my expensive compression socks that i set a 10-mile personal record while wearing.  a coincidence, perhaps.  no, I own four or five teal sports bras, at least the same amount of tops with built in bras in the same color, ten running skirts, and many, many pairs of compression socks.  oh- and seven pairs of ASICS in varying shades of turquoise.  clearly, my subconscious feels as though specific garments are "luckier" than others for completely arbitrary and circumstantial reasons.  i am a victim of common human nature.  damn.  but at the very least, runners do know this:  the day of an event is never the time to try something new.  it is never the time for experimentation.  we are always looking to recreate past victories- and even best them.  to do this, the planets must align and everything must fall into place as it has done time and time before- the tested, tried, and true regimens that we go through to yield pleasing results.  perhaps there is just as much strategy involved as what we consider to be luck. 

well, i guess i can admit to this as i continue packing- i haven't made up my mind as to which shoes will go the distance with me, and which holy grail of running tops i will be sporting.  i may have to dig through the archives to unearth it because lord knows it doesn't sit in my drawer with all the other sweaty things i wear to kickboxing.