Wow, has it been a long time since I posted! Life has been a bit crazy over the past several months, and much of what has happened has, indeed, been out of the box. I can’t wait to share it all with you here, but I’m going to be playing catch-up for awhile. Don’t hold it against me! It’s hard to fit everything in – there simply aren’t enough hours in the day! More to come soon, but for now here’s an update from last August – yes, that’s right. I’m THAT far behind on my posts!
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“Run or Dye” is a fun run. No racing, no “best times”, no medals at the end. Just fun, fun, fun. Oh yes, and coloured chalk. And silly costumes. And generally making a fool of yourself.
I tend to take myself too seriously most of the time. I have been working on poking fun at my quirks and over the years I’ve become comfortable enough in my own skin to recognize the humour in, for example, my selective OCD tendencies. I can easily make jokes about these things, and I don’t mind laughing at myself. That’s not really “out of my box”. Making a public spectacle, however, is something I don’t relish.
I’m an introvert. I like to be silly when no one’s watching – like at home in front of the pets. You know, where it’s safe. Being foolish and silly out in a crowd is definitely NOT within my comfort zone!
As a close friend and I started talking about our Run or Dye team, we thought it might be funny to dress up. Public spectacle, here I come! My friend suggested we wear tutus, because every girl should indulge in tutu-wearing at some point in her life (I confess that I have yet to wear one … perhaps I’ll do it on my own before these 40 experiences are done). But so many people do the tutu thing. I didn’t want to copy anyone – I wanted our team “costume” to be unique!
We started looking around on Etsy and came across a pair of pantaloons. They were the old fashion bloomers you might see beneath a lady’s skirts in a western movie. There are so many different types – who knew?! We loved the pantaloons and thought they’d be super cute and light enough to wear over our running clothes. We might even get the guys to wear them. We would try, at least.
Then I had the brilliant (?) idea of wearing frilly caps to match our bottoms. I don’t know what gave me the idea; maybe it was the silly old fashioned shower cap I bought at Winners a few years back (and actually still use, though it's looking a little worse for wear). I wondered if we could find caps with white eyelet or lace frills to go with our pantaloons. My friend loved this idea, so I ran with it. I searched out sellers on Etsy (you’d be surprised how many of them make shower caps and pantaloons) and located one who had just the look we were going for. I got in touch and asked if she could make enough for our team – without the hot vinyl, since we’d not need it to keep our heads dry. She was intrigued by the idea. Shower caps? As part of a running costume? Actually, maybe she just thought we were nuts! In any case, I placed the order and soon a box arrived with our custom caps. Everyone purchased their own pantaloons and even my twelve year old nephew got in on the action! How cool is that?
Anyway …
The day of the race arrived. I put on my outfit and yes, really felt like a fool. In fact, I felt SO foolish, I decided to wait until we got to the race to don the full costume. Stepping outside of the box really is a work in progress. It was a chilly morning in Calgary, so leggings under the pantaloons were a must. Unfortunately, the simple lace-trimmed tank top I’d planned to wear also needed covering, so a long-sleeved shirt went over it. Not exactly the cute old-timey look I was going for, but then again … I was going to look foolish regardless. So who cares, right?
I was grateful I had a team to walk/run with. Despite all the cool people out there donning fun outfits and yes, tutus, I still felt ridiculous. I mentioned I don’t like making a public spectacle, right? Yeah. You get it. But once we were all together, that’s when the real fun began. Pouring chalk powder all over each other, posing like Miley Cyrus, being silly is what this race was all about! Might as well get into the spirit!
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| Channeling our inner Miley Cyrus. I think we nailed it. |
My niece had an injury, so I decided to walk with her rather than do the run. In the end, we cheated a bit and only did half the distance. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t get covered with chalk, which was the purpose after all. What do you think? Is orange my colour?
Sometimes, you just need to be silly. Sometimes, you need to stop worrying about what everyone else is thinking or doing, and just enjoy yourself. I struggle to let go of my self-consciousness most of the time, but for this day, I let down my hair (figuratively speaking) and had a good time. It was a wonderful way to jump into the fall season and certainly gave me some great memories to cherish.
By the way … coloured chalk tastes really bad. It’s a bitch to get out of those nooks and crannies in your glasses. And it stains your clothes. But a little soap and shampoo will have your skin and hair looking normal again, so at least there’s that.
