What I learned when I was in Georgia last week:
Running in the city:
Your nose is often greeted with the not so pleasant scent of sewage
Running in the country:
Your nose is pleasantly greeted with the fresh aroma of honeysuckle
Running in the city:
Your ears are greeted with the sounds of car horns and sirens and construction
Running in the country:
Your ears are greeted with the sounds or birds chirping and dogs barking and bees buzzing
Running in the city:
It might be hot, but there is always the occasional shade between tall buildings
Running in the country:
It's hot and there are no tall buildings to provide shade
Running in the city:
There are regular and short distance markers, like city blocks or bus stops
Running in the country:
There are not any regular distance markers, but instead you can see miles ahead without any real distance markers in sight
Running in the city:
Homeless people and construction workers leave you feeling icky when they stare at you and make the occasional comment
Running in the country:
Crazy old hillbilly men with long white beards leave you feeling icky and kind of creeped out when they make strange comments and mimic your running as though it is something new that they have never seen
Running in the city:
It's pretty difficult to get lost, because most of the city is on a grid
Running in the country:
They've never heard of a grid and it's really, really easy to get lost
Running in the city:
You set out to run a certain distance, and that's what you do
Running in the country:
You set out to run a certain distance, take one wrong turn, and end up running twice that distance before even seeing civilization again
Running in the city:
If you get lost, you discover new and interesting sights and usually some cool neighborhoods, parks, or restaurants
Running in the country:
If you get lost, you discover things best left undiscovered, like overgrown homes flying the confederate flag, unleashed rabid-looking dogs, and creepy houses with video cameras pointing toward the street and signs referring to said house as "The heartbreak hotel"
Running in the city:
If you get lost, there might be scary people or neighborhoods, but the danger feels minimal because there are always lots of witnesses around to hear you scream if attacked
Running in the country:
If you get lost, no one will have any idea where you are and the danger feels imminent because there is no one around to hear you scream if attacked by the owner of the heartbreak hotel. Except maybe the man burning his leaves, but he seems pretty caught up in that task to pay attention to the lone running girl
Running in the city:
If you get lost and are exhausted from running twice your intended distance, there is always a bus or a taxi that can take you home
Running in the country:
If you get lost and are exhausted from running twice your intended distance, the nice old manager of the gas station is willing to drive you home. He will also slow down at every house having a yard sale, talk about the great deals found at yard sales, point out his own house to you, and talk about Massachusetts with you because he just happens to have been born there.
Running in the city:
It can seem exciting because there's always interesting things to look at and occupy your thoughts
Running in the country:
It can seem boring because there is not much to look at
Running in the city:
It's actually straight-forward and has little unexpected excitement
Running in the country:
It's unexpectedly full of confusion and fear and excitement and good stories
Running in the city:
It's what you'll find me doing from now on
Running in the country:
It's what I'll leave to other runners
2 comments:
Haha I love your comparisons. Sounds like an adventure=)
This makes me giggle. And it's why we have a treadmill :)
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