Running errands

When I was in college, I used to rollerblade errands. I’d throw shoes in a backpack and head off to whereever I needed to go. When I started running, most of my trips to the local ATM were incorporated into a run.

I have a compulsion to be always productive, so rollerblading for the sake of rollerblading rarely happened. But if there were an errand to be run, I gladly took the opportunity to do strap on my skates. (wow, it feels odd to consider rollerblades skates).

Fast forward.. several years. Due to a mishap with my work visa, I don’t have a valid license. If errands are to be run, I can either do them self-propelled, or find someone to take me. The excuse I’ve been waiting for!

The one problem with literally running (or biking, or skating) errands is the time it takes. I’ve had enough trouble dedicating myself to long runs because of the amoung of time it ate up, and two-footing it to the store definitely takes longer than driving. Yet because I’m being productive, I don’t see it as a choice “to run or to do something else”. It’s just a different way to achieve the task on to the to-do list.

ok, wait. I rarely delve into my random deep linguistic thoughts on here, but I can’t help it. In English, we say “he rolled across the street”, where “rolled” describes the action and the direction. In French, they say “il a traverse la route, en roulant”. Well, something along those lines… as I said, college has been awhile. Anyway – in French, they say “he crossed the street, rolling.” They don’t mush together the behavior and the descriptor. Right now I’m thinking of the difference between running errands, and running errands running. Ok, done.

The other week during the Pikes Peak marathon, I decided that I wanted to get a small backpack for running that I could have used for my gear. Now that I am carrying work clothes and a lunch every day on my bike, a decent backpack seems more important than ever. Guess what errand I’m running today? Home -> REI.