The double life of Sadie-runs (tales of wint... - Bridge to 10K

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The double life of Sadie-runs (tales of winter running)

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10
β€’48 Replies

It struck me this morning, as I whizzed through the streets of my town centre at 6:30am today, that winter running makes me feel like I am leading a double life.

In the dark mornings, before the town has woken up and the moon is bright, there’s me, ninja-like in dark Lycra with reflective strips on my leggings and top, stealthily (and sometimes wheezily) running as if on a mission. Focussed. Running. Like a crazy fool. Alone.

By daylight, I am a mild-mannered bespectacled editor, dressed in smart clothes, hair coiffured for the office environment, all business and deadlines.

Anyone else feel like this?! πŸ˜‚

Sadie-runs (in the dark) x

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Sadie-runs
Graduate10
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48 Replies
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linda9389 profile image
linda9389Graduate10

Haha yes! I know what you mean (although when I go to work I am very scruffy and by the time I come home I am mostly an absolute muddy mess at this time of year). But it's that whole secret double life that I love - at work, in the bar in the supermarket, people just have no idea that I can run, I do run and what's more I enjoy running :)

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply tolinda9389

What on earth do you do to return home muddy? My mind is boggling! πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

linda9389 profile image
linda9389Graduate10β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

oh! Haha! These days I'm a gardener! I served my time in an office with staff and lots of responsibility for many years, but after having three children I decided to try gardening because it was something I really enjoyed and I thought I would be able to juggle it with home life . 10+ years on, I'm still getting muddy - and mostly still enjoying it :) But I have to say I never look smart or coiffured on work days!

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply tolinda9389

Oh what a lovely profession, Linda! I am green with envy. Office life is so unhealthy. You may not be coiffured, but I bet you look beautifully healthy. πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

linda9389 profile image
linda9389Graduate10β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

Lol. Not sure about that, but I really don't think I could go back to an office environment after so long working for myself outdoors πŸ˜€ mostly I'm very lucky ... but maybe I won't feel so lucky tomorrow or the day after if the forecast is to be believed πŸ™„

Mummycav profile image
MummycavAdministratorGraduate10

Haha..love this Sadie-runs ...you're like Miss Moneypenny by day & Mrs Incredible in the dark!! πŸ’ͺπŸƒπŸΌβ€β™€οΈπŸ‘©πŸΌβ€πŸ’»

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toMummycav

Mrs Incredible!!!! I love it. 😊

Madge50 profile image
Madge50Graduate10

Ah yes, at work I am calm, smart, clean and tidy.(quite non descript middle aged woman really) ....running (winter especially) mud splashed and sweaty, laughing, singing along to my tunes and even a little dance occasionally......this is what I love about parkrun.....there is no hierarchy just a love of running....πŸƒβ€β™€οΈπŸƒβ€β™‚οΈ

Mx

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toMadge50

πŸ˜„ Yes, the joy! We are joyful ninjas. x

AlMorr profile image
AlMorrAmbassadorGraduate10

Well done to you Sadie on running in the dark on those cold mornings, while you are running in the morning do you notice if the sky is clear a very bright "star" shining very brightly in the south east? Its not a star but the planet Venus, that planet is brilliantly bright this year because of the angle in the sky, very nice ' company' for early morning runners. 😊

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toAlMorr

Yes! Venus was huge in the sky this morning, I am surprised I did not trip up on my run this morning as I couldn’t take my eyes πŸ‘€ off it! Beautiful sickle moon, too. Thank you, dear AlMorr. x

Irishprincess profile image
IrishprincessGraduate10

Haha πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚ yes I'm a warrior when I run and at the gym. Other times I'm a princess πŸ’ͺπŸ’ͺπŸ‘‘πŸ‘‘

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toIrishprincess

Warrior Princess, that’s what you are! πŸ’ͺπŸ‘Έ x

over61andstilltrying profile image
over61andstilltryingGraduate10

😊Just great! Long may it continue!

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toover61andstilltrying

😁 Indeed, thanks 61andtrying. x

ju-ju- profile image
ju-ju-Graduate10

Yes!!!! I love the contrast of lives- ninja stylie on my dark morning runs and days full of meetings clad in suits n heels !

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toju-ju-

We are the Clark Kents of the running world. πŸ˜‚

Hi Sadie, love it!!! I'm totally with you, especially about the hair. I spend ages on mine (not!!!)

It does feel a bit like we have double lives now, doesn't it? I'm considering taking my running gear with me and having a quick trot round Buckshaw Village on my lunch break. Also, the Barbershop Chorus I sing with are doing a concert in a nursing home in the evening, so it'll be jeans/t-shirt, running gear, back to jeans/t-shirt, then into my trousers and blazer for the evening. So tomorrow will likely be one of those days for me lol

p.s. Love the mental picture of you as a ninja!!

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply to

You need to wear all outfits at once, and run into a phone booth to rip off one layer to reveal your next persona, Neil! πŸ˜‚

I feel most ninja-esque when I also wear my black Buff pulled up over my mouth and nose. I’ll surely get arrested one day...I look like I am running from the scene of a crime!

lollytwist profile image
lollytwistGraduate10

I love early morning runs, but struggle in the dark mornings. Once I’ve forced myself out the door I really enjoy myself! I love the silence and quiet streets - very different to my walk to work an hour later πŸ˜„πŸƒβ€β™€οΈ

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply tolollytwist

It can be hard leaving a warm bed at the crack of sparrow’s fart, that’s for sure, but once out, it is magical, right lolly? x

lollytwist profile image
lollytwistGraduate10β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

Absolutely! I’m looking forward to tomorrow mornings run πŸƒβ€β™€οΈπŸƒβ€β™€οΈ

β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

Sparrow's fart??? Is that cockney for something? πŸ˜‚

misswobble profile image
misswobbleGraduate10β€’ in reply to

😁😁😁😁

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply to

No idea. Also no idea where I picked that expression up from, but I like it. πŸ˜‚

β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

Well, not sure I should have been Googling that at work, but I found that it’s a Yorkshire expression, and that sparrows are not known for farting, although there is no evidence to suggest that they don’t pass wind like any other animal.

That’s 10 minutes of my life I will never get back lol

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply to

πŸ˜‚πŸ‘

Runsome profile image
RunsomeGraduate10

Yes I know exactly what you mean. I run first thing before work shower before anyone arrives and when everyone arrives they are unaware that I was running through the streets clad in Lycra in the dark earlier πŸ˜€

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toRunsome

...and with a post-run glow I’ll bet! Cold winter runs makes one extra glowy, I find, Runsome. 😊

Runsome profile image
RunsomeGraduate10β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

Oh yesπŸ˜€

Yes! Love this!!! πŸ–€ From that fantastic description I pictured cat woman bounding through the streets of Gotham completely undetected 😁

I love my stealthy missions into the darkness with my chest torch (that reminds me of iron mans ARC reactor). Exploring the deserted seafront and occasionally blinding innocent dog walkers lurking in the shadows.

I’m a Graphic Designer and Illustrator by day.

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply to

Undetected if it wasn’t for my occasional heavy breathing and singing! And yes! A chest torch does pretty much make you Iron Man. LOL! By the way, I edit books on Marvel Comics and other such nonsense, hence the vivid super hero imagination. 😊

Maybe58 profile image
Maybe58Graduate10

I too lead a double life! In the day I’m a grandma taking my grandchildren to school and doing their tea after school. But come the dark of the evening I’m out there in running gear and head torch. I feel a completely β€˜ageless’ woman out running, I can conquer the night!

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toMaybe58

I ❀️ this! Surely this makes you supergran?! x

Maybe58 profile image
Maybe58Graduate10β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

Quite possibly πŸ˜‰

Sqkr profile image
Sqkr

No double life for me as I'm a scruffy mess when running, and also when working as (presumably) another kind of editor. And now I've started running at work too there's even less of a distinction 😁 Being in the workplace dressed as some sort of awkward lycra-clad running sausage does still feel quite strange to me, but no one else seems to bat an eyelid. Not even when I'm trying to casually walk past cameras inadvertantly broadcasting my aforementioned lycra sausageness in the background of the news.

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toSqkr

πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚ Oh Sqkr, β€œLycra sausageness”! πŸ˜‚

O505k profile image
O505kGraduate10

Yes!! Have not managed the coiffured hair (a standing joke at work) but Lycra clad to heels and suits a regular transformation! πŸ‘  πŸ‘ 

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toO505k

I like to think we are all Lycra-clad under our office wear, ready to spring into a run (after a 5-min warm-up walk, of course, ahem) at a moments notice. 😁

Interstellar profile image
InterstellarGraduate10

Love this post Sadie!!

I'm a mid forty year old Accountant. You'd never think i was a runner looking at me!! Running is my secret power!! I love it..(some days)...the highs i get are unbelievable.

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toInterstellar

Put the words β€œmild mannered” before mid-forty year old Accountant and you sound like a true running super hero. 😊

orangeguy profile image
orangeguyGraduate10

I'm getting superheroine type images in my head with flying capes and masks πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toorangeguy

A cape! Now THAT is something I need. 😁

GoogleMe profile image
GoogleMeGraduate10β€’ in reply toSadie-runs

"No capes!" (assuming you've seen Edna Mode in The Incredibles)

Sadie-runs profile image
Sadie-runsGraduate10β€’ in reply toGoogleMe

Ha ha! Yes, I have seen it! πŸ˜‚

GoogleMe profile image
GoogleMeGraduate10

Definitely stealth runner here as I am usually tucked up in bed otherwise... and I wear normal clothes on top of my running gear (too exhausting to get changed to run) and peel off the top layer when I get to the start of my run.

Bluebirdrunner profile image
BluebirdrunnerGraduate10

Prancing pony here, champing at the bit for my next run 😁...

People may see a slightly older lady trotting slowly along...but in my mind I'm canterng/flying past with my mane flying....😁😁😁

Hee hee...great post Mrs Incredible😊xxx

Sarakc profile image
SarakcGraduate10

Ha ha! I love this post and all the replies! I know exactly what you mean! I actually quite like my dark morning or evening runs! It’s like I’m in disguise! In my mind I’m like my 20 something self instead of a rather crazy 54 year old woman!!

I have a nice wee job in a supermarket bakery icing pastries and baking doughnuts etc! Very few people at work know about my β€œother” life!! πŸ˜€πŸƒβ€β™€οΈπŸ‘©πŸ»β€πŸ³

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