2 Miles for Katie - Wearing the Latest in Running Fashion

Ah, so nice to be back in PA for a couple of days. In my typical fashion, I came home and within a day coaxed my parents into going for a 2 mile run with me. Usually I do this strictly for the company, but I had a bit of an ulterior motive yesterday. Doing incredibly embarrassing things are a lot less traumatizing when you have company...

Katie and I had the best luck ever at the ripe age of 18, when Notre Dame decided we would be roommates. We didn't hit it off right away... I was in a bit of a mood on move in day, and have been told I was a little "intimidating." But very quickly, I proved myself to actually be a reasonable human being, and even friendly at times. So within about a month, we were bonding as we, along with our third roommate, hosted Friday afternoon dance parties. Unfortunately, I have lost the playlist, but I can tell you that "Summer Girls" by LFO was always played, in conjunction with a well-choreographed dance. We also had a few specific duets we would sing to each other... and I'm still a little bitter that she always made me be Kiki Dee in "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart." But whatever. 

We spent quite a bit of time together over the four years, with our regular routines of dance parties, Waffle Saturdays, and ANTM marathons. We also managed a few great trips, like when we visited each other in Dublin and London while studying abroad, the MSU away game (with the party bus), and the time we went to Madison and saw a dog poop on the marble floor in the state capitol building (and then saw some senators laughing uncontrollably about it outside). And since graduation, we've managed to see each other a bunch of times at ND/in Memphis/in Boston. Someday, I will make it out to Colorado to see her. 

And this is how we greet each other

I simply cannot say no to this girl. She is, after all, the Dwight to my Michael Scott.

This is also her middle name.

She requested that I wear the "Irish hat" for my run. At first I thought that she meant one that I used to have that looked kind of like this:

Except it said "Kiss me I'm Irish"

Unfortunately, that was lost on St. Patrick's Day :( So then I thought maybe she meant my ND hat. But then when I asked her she said "I meant the Guinness hat." So for Katie, I talked my parents into joining me for a 2 mile run around our neighborhood dressed like this.

I think I inspired my parents to run, because chasing a beer is like dangling a carrot

First of all, that thing does NOT breathe. So after about a mile it was getting pretty gross under the hat. Also it is way too big, so I was constantly in danger of it blinding me. This was a risk I was willing to take though. It wasn't as aerodynamic as my other running hats, so it slowed me down a little bit. The best part was our neighbors' reactions... or the lack thereof. They would look at me, and then quickly avert their eyes as if I were invisible. Two tween boys simply continued their conversation, even though they had to move to the side when my mom and I went down the sidewalk. The same thing happened when we ran by two other girls out running. I assume that they just didn't want to make it awkward by staring, but it might have not been so weird that I was dressed like that. Many of the locals are still sporting jorts and mullets... I may have been one of the better-dressed people out there.

Local establishments have stepped up to deal with the problem.

Once again, my parents came to my rescue, and this time saved me from a little bit of embarrassment. At one point, I asked them if they were embarrassed to be seen with me, and my dad responded with "No, I'm pretty proud."

So thanks Katie, for a terrific run, the donation, and for helping me instill some sense of pride in my parents. I'll have to bring that hat out to Colorado, so you can try running in it. Or we can use it as a candy dish like we did for most of the Spring of 2008.

-Nat