4x4x48, take 2
I ran the Goggins Challenge earlier this month, unknowingly joining on the official challenge date and therefore running (virtually) with the rest of the world. I was talked into it by a friend who was interested in running and felt unsure of the mileage and the challenge as a whole. I was happy to support her and looked forward to the run. In 2020, the 48 mile challenge kicked off a big running year for me, inspiring me to run farther and climb higher than I ever have before; this year it felt much less exciting. I even joke that this 4x4x48 may have cured me of my desire to run! j/k (kind of)
As you may already know, the Goggins Challenge is to run 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours total. Between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon you will have run a full 48 miles with mounting physical and mental exhaustion. Last year the cumulative effects of sleep deprivation coupled with constant adrenaline resulted in an elated feeling similar to a good buzz. This year the runs felt like more of a job without any strong positive or negative associations; just get it done.
This anti-climatic feeling left me uninspired to write anything about the challenge until I watched this video clip from The Daily Show. It isn’t the running that stuck with me this year, it is the situation. Trevor Noah speaks so many truths about the reality women face every day, which too often includes little acts of violence against women; and which this challenge epitomizes for me. Last year I felt uncomfortable on the first night of running, as I described in my lengthy blog post, with two separate incidences of cars pulling to the side while I ran alone in the dark and quiet streets at ungodly hours. For the second night's 3am run I recruited a friend to escort me- a male whom I specifically asked for his gender- though he assured me his tough and feisty wife would have been an equally appropriate pick. As her friend, I am certain she would have been an excellent escort, but as a woman I knew that he- because he is a he- would allow me to relax and just enjoy the run.
This year I took a different approach. My running buddy and I chose to text each other at the end of each run, just as Trevor describes in his clip. I haven't been young or single for awhile so I didn't know #textmewhenyougethome was a thing; but here we are, two 40 year old women texting when we get home from each run. I didn't recruit any midnight buddies and felt mostly fine with that choice. This year I ran at midnight and 4am instead of 11pm and 3am as I did last year. Somehow midnight still feels like a normal(ish) hour and 4am feels like morning, eliminating a certain creepiness unique to the 3am run. 3am is the witching hour where late night partiers are making their way home and are likely intoxicated, adding to the unpredictable nature of anyone you might encounter.
On the 4am runs I felt alert but confident in my place on the streets. I told myself I am an early riser out for a morning jog, as I have done many times before. Yet, I still found myself in an uncomfortable situation as a car pulled across one of the larger neighborhood streets to park the wrong way on the block ahead of me. It doesn't sound like much- but this car drove across a double yellow and a designated bike lane to park on my side of the street. It's a relatively big road. This is not normal driving behavior in the daylight hours, even if there is no oncoming traffic. It made me feel unsafe. I turned my headlamp off, flipped my mace open, gripped my keys a little tighter and turned the corner rather than crossing to the block on which he as parked. The car didn't follow, everything was fine, and I made it home to text my friend.
But that feeling.. oh that feeling. Every woman knows it when something just isn't right and you want to get out of there as quickly and quietly as you can. Please don't notice me, please don't follow me. Your senses are peaked and remain on high alert until you are safe inside your home.
Overall, this experience was a blip on the radar. I didn't think too much of it outside of the context of this challenge. One friend joked that I am just a magnet for creeps- and I laughed because it feels true. Then you realize all women are a magnet for creeps and the offhand statement starts to loose its humor. To hear the full story of violence against women... consolidated to just a few minutes yet still touching on all of the too familiar hot spots... told by a man who acknowledges the inherently different world view we take as we step out into the world- or on to the street to run a silly challenge? It was moving. More impactful than I can put into words. I encourage everyone to watch the full 8min video. There is just so much truth in Trevor Noah's message.
https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1376247970635546627?s=20
