Machismo Comes in a Little Pink Bottle

So, I don't know if you've ever spent a summer in our nation's glorious capital, but it isn't exactly a runner's paradise. Temperatures have been in the 80s well before the sun rises, and humidity hovers somewhere approaching 90% (which is, in my humble opinion, just sheer laziness--why not simply rain?). I could go on and on about the weather (that and tourists are every DC-ite's favorite summer conversation topics), but I digress.

Heat-schmeat, training must go on and over at Blair House the Back On My Feet Crowd is racking up mileage. This leads to a conversation about hydration and a completely unexpected bump in the road: the guys don't like their pink water bottles. Some background: Our first race was sponsored by another awesome running-related non-profit (Girls On The Run, check 'em out) and so the swag bag was filled with pink stuff...and hairbands. During the race itself we kept our focus on the important things: good form, finishing strong, not getting our asses kicked by 8 year old girls. But after the finish line and the hula hoop workshops (little girls, remember?) we were left with half a dozen hardened men and quite a few pink water bottles.

I hear you. "Who cares?" you're asking (probably while drinking from a chic smoke-grey Nalgene bottle). Apparently, at least some of the aforementioned hardened and full-grown men do. "But it's the twenty-first century!" you protest. Um-hmmm, sure it is. "So whaddya gonna do, Coach?" you ask (and, frankly, I don't appreciate that smirk there, dear reader). Well, I'm gonna schedule some ball busting interval and hill work, that's what I'm going to do--and share my water, I mean I'm not a monster. On Monday morning one chastened runner carried his bottle with him and found the water therein to be pretty friggin' great. Tomorrow morning we'll hopefully have a couple more. And on Saturday, when we huff and puff our way up a mile long climb on 7th avenue, we're have a whole line of big, tough, macho runners taking long and satisfying swigs out of little pink bottles.

And we invite you to come and make fun of them...you know, if you can keep up.