The other day T and I were shopping at “The Good Food Store” when we (and when I say we, I mean T) saw my good friend Vickie who works there.

Well since I hadn’t seen Vickie for over a year, we got to reminiscing about some of our adventures on the bike trail where I used to do my long runs when I was training for my first marathon in 2007.

I told several stories about our training runs/bike rides in my book “Running Blind,” but this one particular adventure took place the summer after my first marathon.

I had called Vickie up and asked her if she wanted to ride her bike alongside me while I ran. She readily agreed since we had so much fun the year before.

The day started out cool, but by the time we were nearing the end of a 16 mile run/ride, we were both hot and my legs were sore!

Vickie suggested that we take this little trail off the main bike path in order to get to the creek that ran alongside it.

Well that sounded pretty darn refreshing to me, so I followed as Vickie led us farther and deeper into the thickly covered trail.

All of a sudden Vickie yells, “Oh My! Mosquitoes!!!”

Here I must digress for a moment.

I hate, I mean really, really, really, hate mosquitoes! When I could see, about the only thing that could get me to run in fear was the sight of mosquitoes.

But since I can’t really see them anymore, I have lost some of that primal fear. Don’t get me wrong, I still really, really, really hate them, as I get huge, monstrous welts when I get bitten.

And they itch like crazy, but I don’t seem to get quite as freaked out about them as I used to.

So back to the very hot and dense trail, that was apparently a breeding ground for the little blood sucking creeps!

Vickie is one of the most conscientious people I know when it comes to attending to me as a visually impaired friend. So even though she was freaking out at the bazillions of microscopic vampires buzzing around us, and she was running like the Wicked Witch from a bucket of water in order to get out of mosquito heaven, because she was still attending to my lack of sight, without breaking stride she yelled back at me, “Hold on to the bike seat!  I’m getting us the heck out of here!”

And with that she took off at a dead run wailing and screaming, flapping and swinging her arms all over the place while trying to steer the bike and keep it upright, hoping against hope that I had grabbed hold so she wouldn’t have to venture back into the thicket to drag my welted carcass out of there.

Me in the mean time, I’m holding on to the bike for dear life, knowing that Vickie, even though she loves me, will probably not come back for me if I let go!

So after what seemed like hours of trauma, but was in reality only a few minutes, we emerged from the trail out onto the bike path, Vickie still running, and not stopping until we got to her truck a quarter of a mile away.

Relieved and laughing I said, “That was awful!”

Vickie was busy getting something out of her backpack in the truck. Before I knew what she was doing, still shaking, she put some kind of oil behind my ear.

I said, “What is this?”

Vickie said in a rattled voice, “It’s peppermint oil.”

Hmmm I thought, I never heard of peppermint oil as a mosquito repellent. So I asked her, “Is this to keep the mosquitoes away?”

“NO!” She said, still panic-stricken and breathless, “It’s to Calm us down!”

In all my years, I have never met another person who was more afraid of mosquitoes then I was. Yup, Vickie wins the award for most freaked out!

Needless to say we never did get to the creek that day to cool off.

How ‘bout it?

- Vision Runner

^ Click Arrow To Listen

Okay here’s something you may not know about me unless you’ve been following all of the posts. I love running clothing, and will buy something new for myself anytime I can come up with an excuse to do so! It doesn’t even have to be a good excuse or a new one…I’m not too proud to use stale, bad excuses when necessary.

In fact, more than half of my wardrobe is composed of running attire: running shirts and running shorts and jackets and tights. Running shoes and socks and hats, oh my!

I have tried (but not quite succeeded yet) to get every color available in both tops and running shorts. It’s an ongoing project, but a fun one…everyone needs a hobby, right? And you should see me stylin’ when I’m running in my orange running shirt and orange running shorts…in fact you can’t help but see me….I’m nearly neon at that point. I’ll have to see if I have a picture to show you…

Here’s One….

Vision Runner in Blazing Neon Orange Running Clothes

I do feel it’s important to be comfortable while running, and certainly color-coordinated as well. Not only does it make the experience of running much more enjoyable; the appropriate running clothes are important for body temperature regulation: to keep cool in the hotter months and warm during the winter months. Not to mention compensating for changes in humidity and wind chill, etc.

When I decided to train for my first marathon, it was the beginning of a new year, 2007. And that meant I had to start my mileage build-up in January. I definitely needed winter running apparel. Fortunately, that winter was a mild one.

Most days I could wear a short-sleeved running shirt with a lightweight running jacket and tights. I always wear a running cap and on the cooler days, gloves. The cap serves a dual purpose: to keep the glare out of my eyes and on cold runs, to keep the heat in. The gloves usually get peeled off about half-way through my run. There were a few times running when I needed to wear a fleece hat, but usually only when it was windy out.

I discovered that a lightweight running jacket was essential for running at that time of the year. It not only kept me warm, but it was vented so that I didn’t overheat during my runs. I’ve heard that running causes the temperature to feel 10 degrees warmer. Before I had my running jacket, when I would run in colder weather, I’d wear a long-sleeved running shirt. But this wasn’t a great strategy as I was starting out my runs feeling cold, and then, once I did start to heat up, pushing up the sleeves just didn’t do the trick to cool me. By having a vented jacket, now the moisture wicks away from my skin, and I don’t get chilled during longer runs. Since I hate to be too hot while running, it’s nice that I can take my running jacket off if I get overheated, and put it right back on once I start to cool off.

We have very low humidity in western Montana, so if I’m running when the sun is out, it can heat up fairly quickly, even during the winter. Even though I would get warmed up in the sun, it was important for me to note that when running at temps below 45 degrees F, I needed to be wearing running tights. It is important to keep your leg muscles warm. Even though I might sometimes get a little too hot when wearing the tights, I found my recovery time was much quicker, and I was not as sore the next day. My main problem with running tights is that I just don’t have as many colors to choose from as I do in my selection of running shorts. I suppose that’s okay, cause I only have one running jacket. So what’s the point? I simply learned to be content to just wear different colored running hats.

The hardest training times for me were the transitional seasons: winter into spring and spring into summer. After running in tights and a jacket all winter, I got excited to put on running shorts without a jacket, just wearing a short-sleeved running shirt.

I did have to be careful though, because spring in Montana could bring some unexpected, very nasty weather. It only took getting caught in a spring snowstorm one time for me to realize that even though the day might look nice to start with, I was running for 2 to 2 ½ hours at a time. A lot can happen weather-wise during that time. As they say in Montana, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes.”

I ran long training runs with my friend Vickie riding her bicycle along with me, and it was easier to start off with a lot more layers of running clothing. As I warmed up, I would shed an item of running clothing, and she would tuck it away in a saddle bag. I was doing a lot of my long runs during that unpredictable spring weather, so having her there alongside me for my long training runs made it easy to be prepared for whatever the weather might bring. Thanks, Vickie!

Of course, my favorite season for running is summer: primarily because most of my running clothes match that season. As I said before, I hate to be too hot while running, so my running shorts for the most part tend to be the kinds that have a generous runner‘s split up the side to allow me the most comfort and the coolest run. But I also have quite a few longer length running shorts that are good for cooler mornings or late spring days.

My singlets (running shirts – tank tops) are of a very cool lightweight, wick-away material. I’ve noticed that some of my running shirts don’t breathe as well, so I use those mostly for early morning runs when it’s not too hot yet.

Okay….so maybe I have gone on a bit too much about running clothes, but my point is this: when running, I want to be smart about what I wear. So by having a lot of choices of what to wear, I never have to worry that I don’t have the right piece of running clothing. That’s how I justify it anyway

I check the conditions, and dress accordingly. And while I’m at it, why not look my best? Wearing nice running clothes makes me feel better about myself. After all, I work hard for this body!

So the three C’s of running clothing of critical importance: Comfortable and Color-Coordinated….

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner