Vancouver Sun Run 2014, Photo credit: me
Bless the generation that brought us selfies.
Wait. Bear with me, here.
Like most people of a certain age, I don’t care for the vapid, duck-lipped, bathroom-mirror kind of selfie that has flooded social media. However, I do appreciate the occasional selfie when out for a run. Many of the self-portraits captured on my phone are rubbish of course. No filter can hide the sweat, weird facial expressions and questionable headwear.
I admit, there is some narcissistic value of these run-time selfies. They allow me to reminisce over some of my cooler, gnarlier runs. They provide photographic evidence that I did in fact, reach the summit or get that far offroad.
But selfies are also genuinely useful when I’m having a pre-race panic.
For the week leading up to a race, my stream of consciousness goes something like this: I haven’t done enough training! I need more hills! More speed work! Possibly less Nutella straight out of the jar! More runnnnnnning!!!!! And so it goes on.
And then, I look at my photos and remember that I have pushed myself more than usual. I may not have trained my hardest, but I have improved. That in itself is a good thing and worth celebrating with a new race. Faith is (somewhat) restored.
The motivational power of selfies works between races too. When I’ve let training slip and become better friends with the couch, motivation and self-confidence plummet. I flick through my photos and I long for that sense of achievement. I want to be that type of runner again. I can do it! I love it really! Those selfies are a metaphorical kick in the pants to get off the couch and be awesome again.
Touristing/running/learning stuff in Montreal.
My new habit of running with a camera also means I have some pretty neat photos of me running in various cities around the world. I’ve combined tourist-ing about with my daily morning run. It’s just good time management when you’re on holiday and want to see a million things. And it’s helpful when you’re trying to figure out what sites warrant more of your tourist time, and what you can strike from the list as you jog past.
Lost. Such fun.
All too frequently I get, well not “lost” exactly, but “uncertain”, geographically speaking on these tourist runs. But oh the things I find! – a community piano! squirrels! graffiti-inspired murals! – all of it captured on camera.
Sometimes the photos are of me and a large part of my arm, sometimes of the more interesting background. Regardless, this is where I thank the selfie generation. Selfies are no longer exclusively for people with no friends. And this social acceptance has encouraged me to take a camera when heading out for an unusual run.
I swear, I’m not really such a narcissist. It really is all about the running. Well, mostly.
runningwithabook 