The Running Gods Will Punish Me

I've already blogged about the cursed shirt, a t-shirt from the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon that I really don't feel comfortable or honest wearing since I didn't run the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon. I ran the half, and it was one of the most enjoyable races of my career, but unlike most of the race-logo merchandise they sell at the Philadelphia Marathon Expo, this particular shirt doesn't say "26.2 13.1 8K" on it. It seems like it's ONLY a shirt for the marathon. I tempted the fates by purchasing it, and was punished for my transgressions with a miserable time at the Philadelphia Marathon when I did run it last year. Seriously, that's the ONLY explanation for my 5:07 marathon, right?

I didn't get to run the Shamrock Marathon this year, but I bought something at the expo that makes me a bit nervous:







I wanted to buy one of last years' finisher hats so that I would have a duplicate one to actually use as a running hat (It was $3, awesome!), since I don't to ruin one of my favorite mementos, but I had reservations about buying any other Shamrock Marathon merchandise this year. This post, and the Cursed Shirt post, are mostly tongue in cheek -- I don't think people should wear shirts from races they didn't run (essentially bragging about that race), but I don't think I'm really superstitious. I was just feeling a little down about being at Shamrock packet pickup but not being able to run the marathon.

On the other hand, we were at the expo a day earlier this year and the merchandise selection was better. This was the type of jacket I was hoping to get last year. I'd wanted a jacket, but had to settle for an obnoxiously day-glow green Brooks Podium 1/4 zip that is comfortable but is really styled more for not getting hit by a car at night than for casual wear.

Though I leaned against buying the jacket, I changed my mind after thinking about for a few minutes (Chris encouraged me to buy it, too, for which I'm thankful.). In my defense:

1. The jacket doesn't have a year on it. If it had a year on it, I definitely wouldn't have bought it.
2. It does say "Shamrock Marathon, Half Marathon, and 8K Run". I ran the 8K this year and did quite well.
3. I'm already signed up (courtesy of shinsplints) for the 2013 marathon.

Still, I'm afraid the running gods are going to punish me for this. Then again, today, March 21, was 60 degrees with 92% humidity. It's going to get into the 80s this week, and I seem to be missing out on my favorite running weather this year (cool spring mornings and cold nights). It seems they already are punishing me.