Being a Chick Runner

The hubby's off camping for the weekend for his brother's bachelor party, so I've had a lovely morning getting up early and not tip-toeing around the house--haha! I went on a short, 3-mile run. My training schedule has a few small runs added in to the usual 3 runs a week that I'm used to, so I've been starting to add them into my routine. This morning was a little rough, because I did a lot of walking yesterday. West Philly is so huge! I am walking a lot more at my new job than I'm used to, but it was a gorgeous day, so I can't complain. I averaged a 9:10 mile! I was proud of that.

So being a woman and running alone in the city is precarious enough. I usually have my game face on, and I talk to no one. Only in NJ will I say good morning to people. On Frankford Ave, where all of my home runs usually begin, there are perpetually, let's say, "colorful" people hanging out around 6:00 am. Today was no different. So I had my game face on and stayed on sides of the street that aren't usually too populated. However, because of construction, I had to pass a couple of guys waiting on a corner. "Great," I think. One man is really overweight, sitting on his stoop. Usually I get some lewd comment thrown at me, which is followed by a dirty look or dramatic gesture on my part, but this guy seemed like he was saying something friendly, so I took my headphones off and asked him to repeat what he had just said to me. He said, "I wish I had your energy!" Then he gave me the thumbs up.

So I learned that while I should be safe, maybe I shouldn't always make assumptions. And let me tell you, that guy's comment got me through a sluggish morning.