First off, can someone do a wellness check on Bradley Cooper? He wanted those Oscars (any Oscar) so bad! He doesn’t need me to pile on him any more for his #PickMe #TryHardEnergy than he’s already gotten online, so let’s all just pour one out for him and say so sorry for your (well earned, sorry not sorry) loss(es), Bradley. I think you’ll land on your feet though, my man.
Next up hi, how are we all coping with Daylight Savings and whatever shenanigans are we getting into this St. Patty’s Day / aka LA Marathon Sunday? Which, speaking of, in honor and in spirit of the latter (no, I’m not running it this year—but rather will be running The Avenue of The Giants Marathon on my birthday and at least one other destination marathon still TBD but I digress) I thought I’d be a bit self-indulgent this Friday and reflect on my first marathon because it feels as appropriate a time as any and I don’t know why I’m justifying this.
And before you proceed to your nearest exit, because I realize that for many, any talk about running and/or marathons is the equivalent to watching paint dry, I promise I’ll make it quick and bring it all around to apply to you, dear reader.
THE WHY: I had zero desire to ever run a marathon. The very first guy who ran it died after doing so, afterall. You have to be crazy to do that shit. But then I saw Brittany Runs A Marathon and a huge discount for the LA Marathon on Black Friday and since I’m a sucker for a deal and was bullied by one of seemingly 13857 running friends who signed up for it, I was like fuck it, why not. That’s all. Not some romantic notion to prove to myself that I could do it or brag to the world on my socials about it. It was literally a huge discount code, a dash of peer pressure and an hour and a half movie that caused me to willingly (and terrifyingly) sign up for upcoming weeks of pain and torture.
THE HOW: 16 weeks of getting up at 6am every Saturday. SO. MUCH. FUN. I am just an absolute JOY to be around in the morning—just ask But I did the training with a group while I still liked running in groups before the world ended, so that certainly helped the drudgery of running anything over like, 10 miles. And thus began learning the hard way in a sport that I was up to that point pretty casual in because I hate paying hundreds of dollars for what could be the equivalent of running to catch the bus which I could do for free, that marathon boobs and chafing and dead toenails and shin splints are very real things that need to be planned for as well as investing in fancy hydration camel packs and goos and gels and fancy aerodynamic moon shoes and foam rollers and QUALITY SPORTS BRAS yada yada yada. Oh yeah, and DON’T FORGET TO PROPERLY FUEL AND HYDRATE AND GET IN A POOP OR TWO before your run. This is very important and I’m not saying it out loud to myself or anything.
THE WHAT: March 8, 2020. Race day. Nervous poops and energy that I disguised as merely coffee jitters abounded. My resting heart rate? 100. Had all the training been enough? Was I going to crash and burn? Or was I about to die? No, really. Did you notice the date? The world was literally ending around us in real time. Did you notice that marathons have thousands of sweaty runners in them? Can you sense the crippling anxiety I was certain to feel with every step of those upcoming 26.2 (actually it was 26.4 but who’s counting) miles? #SuperSpreaderEvent? Maybe. But was I going to back out after 16 weeks of torture training? Hell no. Give me this damn race or give me death. The sunken cost fallacy is real, my friends.
This was the last year before the marathon reroute to Century City (vomit) because heaven forbid the Westsiders get their beach by noon life disturbed for four hours one Sunday a year so I’m glad I got to end my first LAM in Santa Monica for what would unknowingly be its last time. And yes. I even got a decent time for my first marathon - 3:53:47 or something like that So yay! I broke 4 on my first marathon and only hated my life and cursed every living being on this earth from mile 19.5 on. The wall is real people. But the crowd support was also equally real and got me through it. I may have even shed a tear had I not been sweating out enough body fluid that I decided the tear ducts would at least be the one part of my body to get a break.
But man do I wish I could tell you I cried when I crossed that finish line. I really wish I could. I DID, however, cross the finish line with (not planned—we just ended up pacing together) and it looks like we’re about to take out the guy in front of us so that was fun. So sure, I guess maybe I did feel some kind of way for a second? Like maybe I should marry this guy eventually or something, we just did that? But nah. I was just relieved that I could finally stop running and that I would never EVER do that again. (LOL)
MY TAKEAWAY: Am I glad I did the thing that terrified me? Sure. I mean, supposedly running a marathon is supposed to be a flex and a bucket list item to cross over for many (crazy) people. But in a way, no, because now I have the delusion of wanting to do all six of the world majors and I have to get an impossible time to qualify for some of them so there’s that fun pressure on me now! But pressure makes diamonds, right? And thus my self-inflicted marathoners curse and delusion began.
YOUR TAKEAWAY: Now to bring it around to you as quickly as I promised. The first “thing” in the form of a challenge or opportunity that you think of that terrifies you? RUN THE F TOWARDS IT, READERS! As cynical, largely routine-based adults who have been around the sun many a times by now living in the (mostly) ugly time of social media—so few things phase and / or excite us anymore. There are seemingly so few moments and opportunities that make us feel truly alive anymore that, if the first thing you feel when an opportunity presented to you is shear terror, repeat after me, “Where do I sign up?!” Be impulsive and you’ll figure “it” all out later, honey. So let’s all resolve to make the remainder of this year your Shonda Rhimes year of “yes” and get the hell outside of your comfort zone, yeah. You’ll be glad you did. (Or at least, you know, you might get a books worth of material out of it or whatever.)
(Please excuse the liberal middle fingers. It’s the symbol of the club)
Speaking of running—Raziq Rauf, founder of the popular running blog Running Sucks 101 is on the pod this week! I go through the usual (not-so-rapid) fire Inside The Actors Studio-ish questions before chatting with Raz about his humble beginnings working in the music journalism world and starting his own blogs in the UK, before finding his way over to Los Angeles and turning his passion for running into purpose with his successful aforementioned Substack. Raz is full of inspiring, sage advice for those currently grinding it out in the 9-5 who are looking to build and cultivate their own creative projects and community. Follow Raz on IG here!
Follow us @ilovethatforyoupod, over at our Facebook page and email us with questions, comments or if you want to be a guest on a future episode at ilovethatforyoupod@gmail.com. We basically have as many listeners as Chicks in the Office.
Show: I didn’t realize they were making another season of Girls5Eva but Netflix saved it from getting cancelled and the world gets to rejoice in its absurdity yet again for S3.
Song: Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” at The Oscars is giving me life this week. I mean, was it not the best performance you’ve seen since Robin Williams performed South Park’s “Blame Canada” in 2000? Let’s bask in it again, shall we?
Bonus song living rent free in my head this week is this gem from Anatomy of a Fall which I hear was originally supposed to be Jolene but didn’t work out and wasn’t that a happy accident that worked out for the best for all of us?
Book: One in a Millennial by Kate Kennedy. Anyone in their millennial cringe era will enjoy this part nostalgic, part thought essay book about those magical, weird years of yesteryear. Here’s the official logline: One In a Millennial is an exploration of pop culture, nostalgia, the millennial zeitgeist, and the life lessons learned (for better and for worse) from coming of age as a member of a much-maligned generation.
K that’s all for now. Also I just noticed a Valentines-y theme with my three things randomly. Look at me, inadvertently spreading the love! Ok. For reals. That’s all now. Bye.
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