"Sexy Legs...NOT!"
This happened when I lived in Ballarat in the 90's and was out having a run.
I had been going along comfortably for a while and had to stop at a set of lights in Mair St, one of the main streets in Ballarat. While I was waiting for the 'little green man', I could hear some wolf whistles coming from my left. I didn't want to appear overly excited and turn straight away, so I just had a subtle glance out of the corner of my eye. What did I see ? Three rather nice looking young ladies heading my way !!!
As I was playing a pretty straight bat and determined to look cool and unbothered by this attention, I continued to look straight ahead and wait for the lights to change.
This did not stop the whistles, as they kept doing it as they got closer to me. My response ? Keep looking straight ahead, but lift the leg of my shorts a bit higher and show a bit of leg. The more they whistled, the more I showed. Boy was I feeling good about myself !
BUT... as they got closer on my left side, I suddenly heard a lot of giggling from my right, and upon looking I saw another group of girls coming towards me, and they were calling out to the group that I had first shown my wares to.
Then it dawned on me, they weren't whistling at me, they were whistling to their friends who were approaching from the opposite direction that I hadn't noticed, due to my pre-occupation with flashing my pins at them !!!
What followed next was about 20 seconds of untold embarrassment as I held my gaze steadfastly ahead, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, and hoping for hell that the lights would change so I could escape!
The two groups of girls gathered at the lights too, but I couldn't tell you what they were talking about as I was just sweating profusely and going redder by the second. Needless to say, they were in hysterics after watching the antics of this nuffy jogger.
When the lights changed, you have never seen someone move so fast in an effort to get away from others.
The giggling as I took off is just as clear in my mind today as it was all those years ago.
I still laugh about it now, but at the time there was not a hole big enough for me to hide in.
Ganbatte !!
For a few years when we lived in Ballarat I taught Japanese as well as my usual other Primary teaching.
When I was attending classes at Uni, we were encouraged to use our new found skills wherever and whenever we could in our daily lives in order to embed what we were learning as well as have real life experiences in using the language.
At about the same I was running in a half marathon in Melbourne, and at the time these events were extremely well supported by many Japanese people.
I couldn't believe my luck - what a great opportunity to practice my Japanese skills on other runners !!
At the start I was looking around at the other competitors, and yep, there were certainly a lot of Japanese people. All I had to do was go for it.
As the race started and people gradually found their place in the filed, I decided that now it was time to do it. I gradually ran alongside a Japanese runner ( I have to admit that I assumed each one I went to was Japanese !) and was all prepared to say something, but at the last minute I wimped out.
Undeterred, I thought to myself "Next person, definitely".
So, I eventually worked up the courage and got alongside another Japanese person and, you guessed it, wimped out again.
This must have happened at least 8-9 more times, and I was starting to panic as we were quickly running out of km's !
So, after convincing myself that it was now 'Do or die', I got alongside a Japanese man, gave him 'the nod' (you know, the acknowledgement nod) and said to him loudly, "Ganbatte" ( which is a term of encouragement, keep it going, do your best etc) in my best Japanese.
Imagine my shock/horror when he replied in the thickest Aussie drawl, "How are you goin' mate?"!!
This bloke was probably more Aussie than me !
Just like I did at the traffic lights when the girls were whistling at me (or so I thought) I accelerated at a pace that was not physically good for me, but was enough to get me out of the vicinity of the person I'd just made a tool of myself to.
My mouth stayed well and truly shut for the rest of the race.
Once again, I can laugh about it now, but at the time I considered myself to be a total nutbag.
Ouch !!
A few years ago I purchased a road bike so that I could cycle more in an attempt to rid myself of some injuries and ailments that were troubling me. Very quickly I was clocking up the km's as I rode all around Bendigo, looking rather spiffy in my full kit of shoes and lycra and on a brand new bike.
One day in particular that was a little wet, I was going through a roundabout when the bike slid out from under me in the wet and I was sent sliding across the road, still attached to the pedals by my shoes.
As I must have been going at a good pace, I could not believe how far I actually slid, but I quickly became aware that I was sliding headlong into the path of an oncoming car.
Thankfully we both stopped a few metres from each other, and while I was getting myself back together and checking my injuries there was a tooting of a car horn right behind me. Thinking that it was someone offering some help I sat up and looked at them, only to see an older male driver motioning angrily at me to get out of the way as I was blocking his lane !!
I could not believe his attitude, as here I was bruised and bleeding on the road in front of him and all he wanted was for me to get out of his way.
Luckily that is the worst that has happened.
Ouch 2 !!
Mid last year I was out riding again through the centre of Bendigo, and I reached an intersection that meant I had to cross over some tram tracks that run along our main street.
As I was turning, my front wheel got locked in the tram track, but the rear of the bike slid outwards. This created something of a catapult effect, and I was ejected rapidly out of my seat over the bike and onto the road. In comparison to my crash at the roundabout mentioned above, this was the total opposite. A number of cars stopped immediately in their lanes and people were offering to help. At first I was too dazed to respond as my first thoughts were to see if any trams were coming as I was in the middle of the tracks. My next thoughts were about the bike, as I was still about 10km's from home, but after a few quick tweaks here and there it was soon rideable again.
After getting off the road and onto the footpath, it was time to check the body. A lot of skin missing, some big bruises and cuts and some holes in my gear, but the biggest shock was how much force the helmet must have taken when my head hit the deck. It was definitely the difference between minor and serious injury, so if anyone says helmets are not necessary, tell them to think again.
The best part about this bingle (if there can be) was how so many people stopped in their tracks (no pun intended) to help me, on a busy Saturday afternoon in the main street of Bendigo, unlike the old bugger at the roundabout who probably wanted to run me over anyway.
Being in the zone...
Sometimes when one goes out for a run or a ride, you can just tell straight away if it is going to be a hard one or an easy one. By this I mean that there are days when the body is saying "Yeah, I'm up for it" while on others it is saying "Well, do this if you have to, but don't expect much from me".
Then it becomes a mental battle of whether to push on or pack it in, but in most times I tend to push on as I hate getting ready to run or ride and then pull the pin.
Sometimes when running it just all seems to come together. The fatigue is not happening, the legs are cranking away smoothly, nothing is hurting, the breathing is good. One just feels at these times that this is just about as good as it can get, and I have learnt to really cherish these moments, as few and far between as they are.
When possible, and if I have the opportunity I love to take photos of where and when this happens.
I have included three photos that were taken in Canada when I went for a few jogs, as this is one of the best ways to explore a new city or area.
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| The track around Vancouver Harbour |
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| Along the foreshore in Toronto |
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| Along the river in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. |
In each of them, everything just felt so right, so I took a photo of where I was. I am still not sure if the environment contributed, or if I was just in a good headspace. You be the judge.
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