Hi lovelies - today I want to tell you about why I don't run...
My roommate is a crazy fitness junkie. She likes to challenge herself physically quite often, and last year she completed a 10k, a half marathon, and a super spartan race. She's kind of a machine. Quite often when mutual friends are talking to her about running, they'll ask me if I run - which usually causes me to laugh. You don't want to see my fat fluffy butt running anywhere.
I don't run.
There are only two reasons that I would ever run:
A: I'm being chased by a murderer and need to run for my life
B: I need to catch my bus.
This is something that you'd never see me partake in.
So let's backtrack a bit - last year I had an incident while running for the bus.
I was on my way home from work - I took bus #1, got off at the necessary stop and I was walking to stop #2 to catch the other bus that would take me home. As I'm casually walking towards the bus stop, I hear something behind me and turn just in time to see the bus coming towards me. I panic and start to run. My guess is that I looked a little something like this...
I don't have far to run, honestly. I only have to cross a main intersection (Broadway and Granville... it's pretty busy) and run about 3/4 of a block to the stop. I start running, casually, in the direction of the stop. The bus isn't there yet, so I figure that if I keep at a steady pace, I'll make it in time. I've got my purse slung over my shoulder, and a bag or two in my hands, and I'm on my way to catching the bus that will take me home after a long day at the office.
As I'm running across the intersection, I notice that my pants are feeling a bit loose. I basically shrug it off, and keep running. By the time I get across the intersection, I can tell that my pants have fallen down my butt quite a bit and I say a quick 'thank you' that I wore a long-ish shirt that day. I keep running, a little faster now, to make sure I can catch this bus and not have to wait for the next one - as I'm running, my pants are falling further and further down. I'm not kidding when I say that my pants were around my knees by the time I got to the bus. I would say at least 100 people saw me running down the street virtually pantless. I quickly threw my bags on the ground, pulled my pants up, picked everything up and boarded the bus.
I probably looked a little something like this.
When I got on the bus, I got a really interesting look from the driver and most of the bus patrons. I casually showed the driver my bus pass, and walked to the back of the bus and sat down. Surprisingly, nobody made any kind of snarky comment/remark about my pantless debacle, and for that: I am grateful.
So, friends, in case you're wondering: Unless I'm being chased by a murderer or late for the bus, I do not run.
It's time for a little hump-day story, friends.
Let me start by saying... I'm probably the clumsiest person that anyone will ever meet. This honestly isn't a dramatic statement or a hyperbole in the slightest - I legitimately walk into at least one thing every single day, but usually it's more like 5-10 things (walls, tables, doors/door frames/door ways, people, etc). It is a normal occurrence for me to come home from work and tell Amanda (my roommate) about the amount of times I fell/tripped/walked into something that day. Okay okay, so now that you understand where I'm coming from - let's get this story started.
So while I'm clumsy, I'm usually pretty solid and able to hold my ground while I'm on the bus. Every day I typically sit in the same seat, or the same general area. As a rule to myself - I don't sit in the top section of the bus. Stairs + Faith = not friends, especially not on a moving vehicle.
Well, one day, I decided to be 'adventurous' (honestly, I don't even know why I went up there - but I did)... so I ventured up into the back part of the bus - up the stairs.
No big deal.
I chilled in the back, listening to some music and watching out the windows as we drove down the busy downtown streets of Vancouver. I mentally made note that my stop was the next one, so after we left the last stop before mine, I pulled the cord and stood up. I held onto the bar and took a step forward.
Just at that EXACT moment, some idiot ran across the street - in front of my bus - and the bus driver SLAMMED on the brakes. People in their seats shifted quite a bit, but remember how I was standing? Yeah... thaaaaat happened. So the brakes get slammed, and I lurch forward. There's literally nothing graceful about me, so it wasn't like I just slid a little bit... Nope, that's not how I roll.
I didn't know what to do, and I refused to fall on my face, so I just ran forward. I don't know how else to explain it. To keep from falling, I just prolonged my trip by 'running' it out, so I ran forward, tripped down the stairs, and ran... all the way to the front of the bus. Want to know how I stopped? I literally ran into the pay station at the front of the bus next to the driver. After I smashed into the machine, I kind of lost it - laughing hysterically. I glanced over at the bus driver and he looked at me like this:
He was seriously concerned for my well-being, along with all of the other bus patrons. He asked me if I was okay, and I assured him - a few times - that I was definitely okay and he could continue driving since the next stop was mine (and Lord knows I needed to get off that bus).
That's when it happened - as the driver was pulling away, somebody in the back of the bus clapped. I turned around (this being the part where I should be mortified), chuckled and nodded my head as if I were taking a bow. The bus stopped, and I literally tore those doors open, jumped off the bus, and ran to the office.
There you have it friends, my not so awkward bus moment.
I should probably be embarrassed by this kind of thing by now, but really - if I were normal, my life would probably be boring.
Hey Faith-ful followers! (see what I did there?)
Amanda here from The PR Life! Lucky for you all, I am Faith's best friend and roommate, which makes it easy for me to influence a guest post :)
After Faith's ridiculous post yesterday regarding getting realllllly ugly upon walking in the door - which I too, am guilty of - I knew the story I'm about to share with you had to be posted on her blog.
This morning I skipped my 4:30 gym wake up call (I really need to get to bed earlier tonight!) so I could sleep in - and sleep in I did! When I finally rolled out of bed at 6:30 I rushed to get ready, do my hair, cook some eggs for breakfast - it's the most important meal of the day after all - pack my lunch and get out the door in 30 minutes so I could catch the early bus to work.
All was well as I grabbed my umbrella and locked the door behind me at 7:03. As I rushed out the side door to the bus stop I smelled something from the neighbour's house that was kind of a mix of pancakes and burnt toast... which instantly triggered the question "did I turn the stove off?"
I don't know about you - but when I get a thought in my head that I can't confirm I know to be true... and especially those questions that have to do with burning your house down - I can't get them out of my head.
I said to myself "Amanda, don't be so foolish - you always turn the stove off - it's off!" So I kept walking and rushed to the bus stop just in time to catch the bus and hopped on. Any other day this would have been amazing! Like a high-five the bus driver kinda moment.... errr okay maybe not that far, it was 7am after all.
So I sat down on the bus while my subconscious (the devil if you will) kept throwing this in my face:
While my rational side (the cute little angel) kept reassuring me with flashes of this visual:
I tried to push the fear of burning my house down to the back of my mind while the bus sauntered across the bridge into downtown. I mean obviously I turned it off because I always do. And I even washed the dishes and cleaned up before I left… but I still wasn’t convinced that I turned to stove off.
So at 7:25 I got off the bus at Robson and Hamilton – grabbed the nearest car2go (see below for visual) - and rushed home in rush hour to open the door at 7:42 to see yup, stove was off.
The angel sat on my shoulder with a smug grin on her face saying "told you so!"
Since I was home I hopped in my car (might as well pay for parking and have my car after work now versus paying for a car2go to take me back downtown).
Once I pulled into the parkade, I rushed up to my office and got to work at exactly 7:58.
Yup, allllllll of that can be done in 35 minutes.
Lesson of the day: Trust your gut instinct and don't worry so much. Oh, and check the stove twice three times before leaving the house next time.
Amanda
