I’m not always the smartest person. That’s just a fact. I’m fairly intelligent, but I’ve been known to make a faux pas here and there.
It was the summer, and I was still living in the Bronx. One of the things I often did was run for miles and miles. I loved expanding my “running territory.” As my endurance improved, I ran further and further away from my home base.
One day I was running down Third Avenue in the Bronx, sweating and super hot. So I did what any reasonable person would do and took off my shirt. I had my headphones on, some rather short shorts, and no shirt.
At the time, I was fairly lean and probably looked pretty fit. As I was running, I could see positive reactions from some people along the way. Then, after some time running deeper into Third Avenue, things started to feel more crowded. The familiar brick-red buildings, trees, and narrow passages gave way to a housing complex.
As I continued running, I turned off my music because I realized I was in unfamiliar territory. I overheard some people saying things like, “Look at this guy trying to look tough!” and “He might get himself hurt running around like that.”
Yup, I was definitely not in my usual neighborhood and I wasn’t exactly blending in. So I sped things up and tried to make my way out as soon as possible. Going back the same way was out of the question. Instead, I ran deeper into the area, looking for a less obvious route to head back.
“Hey, look at this guy,” I heard again. I kept running and thinking, “Dear legs, don’t fail me now.” I believe that on this day, I really pushed my cardio to another level. One, because I was running while seriously nervous, and two because I picked up the pace as I became more noticed.
Granted, I probably brought this on myself. What was I thinking running into a housing complex shirtless and in small shorts? But I’m from around here, so I figured it would be fine. Well, it wasn’t. I looked out of place in that setting. Needless to say, once I made it out, I never ran through that route again!
Note: The picture above isn’t actually of the Bronx, but it shows the kind of place I ran into pretty well.
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