- Yesterday, I found out completely by accident, that a coworker who sits right next to me is running the same half marathon I am on Sunday. It makes me sad that we sit right next to each other and never talk about what’s going on in our lives. But eh, it’s a two-way street, and I tend to not share much about myself in the office. Are you close with your coworkers?
- OMG I realized I have less than a month to write a matron of honor speech for Christina’s wedding. Ahh!
- I’ve been wearing the Asics Gel Cumulus shoes since mid October 2010 and have had great success with them. I love the gel cushioning system! In fact, when it was time to get trail shoes for my 50K, I didn’t even try a pair on… I just read about an Asics shoe that fit just like the Cumulus and bought them (and they work fantastically). Anyway! I am a huge supinator, and I heard the Asics Gel Nimbus has a bit more support in the lateral front of the shoe for that, so I got a pair to try. We shall see what happens! If nothing else, I will have a super spiffy new pair of street shoes.
- I was reading this story (pdf here) about 24 year-old Garth Watson, who is running from California to New York in 150 days to raise money for Stand Up 2 Cancer, thinking “I want to do something like that someday – run a bunch of miles and fundraise!” (and “Man, it sucks that the people who said they would support him on the run bailed on him.”). Then I was like… derp. I am doing that with team Running to Remember for The Longest Day, fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Association. From sunrise to sunset, someone from the team is running on a track, and last year, they ran a combined 300 miles! I am excited to see how many miles we get in this year! Please visit my personal page if you’d like to donate – no amount is too small!
- Are any other Soldier Field 10 Miler registrants wondering what is up with the corral system? It seems like some people are placed completely randomly in the corrals, even though Fleet Feet said they corrals are based on estimated pace. For example… I am in the middle corral, 9, and Gina and her husband, who are coming from Texas to run the race with me, are in the last corral, 18. Even though we registered at the exact same time (she registered for me) and all put the same pace. Seems odd, but… I get super annoyed when people obsess over corrals so I am trying not to. Emphasis on trying. Ha. It’ll all work out on race day.
Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 62
Themocracy
I have a couple coworkers that I am close with, but it took a long time to get there. Even now I still only share bits and pieces of my personal life. I’ve had bad experiences in the past getting too close to people at work and having to draw the line between being friendly and being professional. But that’s really cool that your coworker is a runner too! Maybe you have a new lunch run buddy?
The new shoes are a cute color! I feel like pink is not a shoe color you would normally pick. They didn’t have orange? 😉
Hell yeah you are going to run a shit ton of miles for charity! Except it’ll just be in circles and not from one cool city to another. hahah! Don’t get too dizzy! We were thinking about somehow turning it into an official ultra marathon next year if interest is high.
I think that the Soldier Field race is concerned that Gina and Pheven are Dallas Cowboys fans since they are from Texas and rightly stuck them in the back. muahahaha!
Oh gosh. Yeah, I can relate to that at my past job. At my current job, I am close with the other coworker I sit right next to. But mostly, I have learned that sharing too much about myself results in judgement.
Sigh. I went with the older model to save $ (the price they are showing at now is way more than I spent – weird!). I really wanted the third pair on this page http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H1LPK0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. Orange is usually only in men’s shoes! 🙁
Ooo! How would that work to make it an official ultra?
Ha ha! I hope they read this and see you wrote that! We keep teasing about being Dallas fans but it sounds like they are Giants fans fo life.
My oldest friend in Chicago is a guy who trained me at my job (and quit like a year later, so I guess we’re not really “work friends” anymore?). I used to be close to my co-workers, but now we hardly ever see each other since everyone works from home. And one of my best work friends is the one that doesn’t like to hear about running… so I don’t really talk about that with her. Heh, and you know who sits next to me – I’ve been surprised to find out we’ve done the same races from time to time (or I bump into her husband there!).
I didn’t even notice the corral assignments when I got my bib email, lol. I just remember that, last year, Melanie and I were so far back that people were already finishing the race by the time we started. I’m in 16, which is weird that I’m ahead of Gina & Steve (I can only assume they put a pace faster than 12:00). I was going to say maybe they’re in the back b/c it’s their first time running the race, but it’s yours too, no?
Yeah, working from home definitely makes it harder for the chatting that makes you feel closer to your coworkers (but you get so much more done, lol!). I feel like a few people don’t want to hear about running, either. It’s like… you did it a race once, it was novel… you do it all the time now. Whatevs 🙂 A few people still care.
I have wondered a lot of things about their placement. Maybe since it’s their first FF race? But Gina has done one. So, no. And this is my first time doing SF. And we all put 10:00mm. Bobbi put 9:00mm and she is a few corrals behind me. I honestly just want to do the race together, and hopefully be placed around people running a similar pace.
I ran a race through Fleet Feet with Ian two summers ago and I registered for both of us, put the same estimated pace in (his), and I ended up two assigned corrals behind him. It was really strange but luckily, the race was on the smaller side and corral assignments weren’t being reinforced so I was able to sneak into his corral no problem.
I like to keep my personal life separate from work too. I will chat with my coworkers occasionally but they really know very little about my life. Sometimes I wish I was closer with them because I spend so much time at work (as do most people) but I do like having separation between work and home.
So odd! But, sounds like it all works out! I hope we can meet in the middle – lol. I want to run with them! They are coming all the way out here!
I like that separation too. I am always amazed (in a good way) by the people who spend so much time with their coworkers outside of the office, too!
It seems there are issues with the SF10 corral placements. I’d try to get Gina to switch to your corral because half the field will be done before they ever start- they don’t belong in the back!
I’m friendly with my coworkers, and they all come to me with running questions now- but I don’t share really personal stuff with them.. Maybe you have a new run buddy at work now???
I can’t wait to cheer for you and Bobbi this weekend and cheer again next weekend 🙂 I’ll be out there playing paparazzi 😉
She is trying! 🙂 I think they are swamped with requests 😉
I can’t wait to see you! I won’t have my official photog there so it’s ALL ON YOU!
I tend to keep to myself but I definitely have coworkers I’m close to.
Have fun running Soldier Field. Did that one a few years ago and decided not again. It was too crowded on the lake trail and I got stuck behind people walking 3 or 4 across. I think maybe they’ve changed the course since then.
I hope so! The beginning looks like it might be on the road then get on the trail? Fingers crossed for the best. LOL!
Fleet Feet is so weird about their corralling system. The BTN Big 10K corrals last year were also supposed to be based on pace, but definitely were not — I know I put in that I planned to run a 1:00ish 10K, but everyone around me in my corral said they planned to run like a 1:15, and I knew people several corral ahead of me who had never run better than like a 1:20 10K o.O So weird. What’s the point of corralling your runners if it’s entirely random? Why not just let them line up by their own self-seeded pace?
So maybe it’s always like this! And that would be why people get annoyed with it. LOL. I guess I’ve never dealt with it in their races before! (This will be my 3rd – Women’s Half and Reindeer Run or whatever it as last Dec).
Yes! I was going to mention the BTN Big 10k. They were so strange. I had two coworkers run it and their corral placement seemed so strange to me. One was up in corral C even though she put down a 1+hour estimated time.
I generally know what’s going on in the lives of the 3 other women on my immediate team, and everyone on the digital marketing team gets along great (the many happy hours help). But outside of that? I barely know anyone.
The corrals for the SF10 are so weird! I’m in 7 (eek, given my knee issues) and Robert is in 18! I don’t remember what pace I put down for us, but I doubt we put down that he would be at a walking pace. I suggested he contact them to see if he can switch it, but he doesn’t want to. He said he’s fine starting slowly in back and weaving if he has to. (And waiting around, since I have to get there earlier than him for my corral.)
I am so happy to hear you get on so well with everyone at your office! Are you coming up on your one year anniversary?
That is so weird! At least he is cool with it! I bet I will end up back there with my friends – not sure how FF can accommodate all these requests for corral changes!
It’ll be a year next month! Time flies!
I also became pretty close with a co-worker at my last job – like, really close. I think sometimes it’s nice to have a friend who doesn’t know anyone else in your life, so you can freely vent about stuff. We’re still friends and try to do lunch, dinner or happy hour every few weeks.
Oh gosh, yes, that is fantastic! Then you don’t have to worry about offending them or them having their own opinion about people. Ha! That is great you keep in touch! 😀
Sometimes corrals are based on the question “is this your first race,” like, is it your first race at the distance, have you ever done SF before, etc. I’m pretty sure they asked those questions on the registration form, so that’s probably it.
They asked “Have you participated in the Fleet Feet Sports Soldier Field 10 Mile before?” And all of us answered, “No, this is my first time.” And I know a few other people who answered that way too and are all over. If that’s what they based it on… it still seems to be messed up. I just don’t get putting someone who put a 10:00mm in the last wave.
Yeah, I mostly like to keep my personal life and work life separate. It was a bit harder with my current job as a lot of the people here have been working together a long time and are used to sharing personal information. So I’ve begun to share a bit more about some things but still keep it mostly surface level. Those shoes are pretty!
If FF doesn’t respond to Gina’s emails about changing her corral, ask packet pick-up. There’s typically someone there who can deal with those issues. I don’t recall having corral issues with SF but I haven’t run it in a corral I cared about since 2012.
Those shoes look really awesome! I hope they work out for you.
Some of my coworkers seem pretty close because they all work on the same projects together and spend more time with one another than I spend with them. Sometimes I think it would be nice to go out to happy hours and stuff with coworkers but other times I’m glad we just go our own ways after work.
Yeah, I will ask there and see what happens. If nothing… at least we asked 🙂
Thanks! I hope so, too. If not, I’ve got the Cumulus.
Oh gosh. Yeah. When I am downtown and people want to do happy hour… I just want to get my 2 hour commute done and get home. LOL.
Wow I am very close to my co-workers! Maybe just because I have an oversharing problem. LOL I can’t imagine sitting next to someone all day and not chatting it up. I guess teaching is different! We are alone w/ kids all day so at lunch we really yack it up.
I chat a lot to the other person I sit right next to 🙂
You must’ve edited this because I got a lot funnier comment in my email. LOL!
Ha, yeah, that is why I wrote “(not in my comment)” LOL!
I have been wearing the Gel Nimbus for most of my running life and love them. I hope they work out for you!
I am very close to a number of my co-workers (although part of that is because one of them was a personal friend before she ended up working in my office). And I eat lunch with the same group of people every day so we often know what’s going on with each other’s lives – vacations, family events, surgeries, etc.
I am a supinator too and the Gel Nimbus is divine for me. Hope you like it!
I didn’t give the SF corrals much thought beyond, wow! further back then I remember being last year (I’m in 7). They were a pia last year because they space out the start, yet close the corrals so I was in my corral for 50 minutes before getting to start. Hello potty. Kind of threw everything off.
Yeah, I am expecting a looooong wait time to get moving. Hee hee. More time to chat? It looks like it will be warm enough to wait. 😉
One of my co-workers says “Goodnight family!” when he leaves at the end of the day–if that tells you anything about how close we are!
I’ve been very lucky in that I’ve always made dear friends at work. I’m kind of an open book, just like my boss was, and thankfully that works here. Although sometimes I think “Wow Diane, keep your mouth shut once in awhile!” LOL!
I tend to be very open book too, and it pains me to hold things in at work. But I have been burned my sharing too much of myself there, so it’s kind of a learned reaction. I am happy you have made such dear friends!!! 😀
When I worked for Lake County I was close to a few of my co-workers. A few of us participated in tater tot Tuesday which was wine and tots after work on Tuesdays…..so exactly what it sounds like….we were not the most creative. And then I had a work husband-> I shared an office with one of my co-workers and we got to be pretty good friends but we would bicker like an old married couple. I miss working with them. Of course like the entire County knew when I was running a race because I like to share;)!
i actually have several coworkers that i’m close to. we do a lot of traveling and it helps us bond. we go out to dinner and get to talking. i have a crew of people that are really into running and we are always talking each other into races.
it helps that i do some training for our organization, so i get to meet a lot of people in a classroom setting. it’s pretty easy to get to know people when you aren’t constantly distracted by work 🙂
I tend to not be really close to my co workers. I don’t know why though. When I was younger I didn’t hide anything, now I’m much more reserved and keep a lot of personal stuff to myself.
When do you think you started to be like that? I still tend to be way too open, but once someone shows me they can’t be trusted, I stop sharing most things with them.
I started being like that when the hubby joined the military. We found that many people cannot be trusted, even family members, which is really sad. I’m still open, but much more reserved than I used to be.
I’m sorry about that! It hurts even more when it’s family. Like, “you’re supposed to ALWAYS be there for me!!!”