Miles III has officially retired. In his place, is …. yet another Garmin 405, still to be named. The replacement Garmin 405 is green, which is lucky. I hope. Green is the colour of rebirth. Spring. Life. American prosperity. Eco-health. Some tea. Jealousy. It’s a reliable colour. The kind of colour that won’t commit suicide midrun. My new Garmin needs a name befitting a treasured training partner who will go the distance.
Yes, I name my gadgets. Roadrunner my running iPod. Pink Lady my commuting iPod. Flash my camera. And so on. Saddling my new 405 with the namesake of his predecessors seems ill-advised. Miles bears a curse that I wish to end with the demise of The Third. New start, new colour, new name. But what name? Husband suggested The Hulk. It doesn’t seem like a Hulk. I want a fast name. A name that can run 42.2K. Hulk sounds lumbering. Brute force but no endurance. Upon my Hulk rejection he suggested Comrade. I rolled my eyes. I’m not running Comrades. Fine, not anytime soon. He then continued on with Envy, Olive, Esmerelda, Chloris (like chlorophyl), Myrtle the Turtle, Booger, and then he kept talking but I stopped listening at Booger. You understand.
I briefly considered Frogger, in the old arcade game tradition of employing an almost useless joystick to get Frogger home without him being splattered into roadkill. Sadly, I was never skilled at Frogger and I don’t want the same fate to befall my 405. Kermit is in the running (ha), although I secretly prefer Super Grover to Kermit. It’s a shame Super Grover is blue. I can’t give my green watch a blue name. I like margarine [Note: this is not a statement regarding my food preferences. I'm not especially fond of margarine the food, but I quite enjoy ilikemargarine the blog. I recommend you stop by to visit, but don't expect parking validation.] proposed Kim as a metric-friendly alternative to Miles (get it – KIloMetres). I like the idea of a kilometre inspired name, but my new 405 just doesn’t look like a Kim. I went to high school with a girl name Kim who had taller bangs than anyone else I’ve ever known. And she wore them high and proud well past the end of the craze. I blame her for the hole in the ozone. Another ilikemargarine original is “BezelBub, in honor of the bezel from hell”, which is funny ’cause it’s true but the name makes me think about Lord of the Flies and my tenth grade English teacher and, once again, Kim’s skyscraping bangs. So that’s out. I’m tempted to name it Lucky, but a wee bit of superstition leaks out and I fear that the name Lucky is, well, unlucky. Popeye is strong to the finish cause he eats his spinach. Spinach is green. Yeah, it’s a stretch. Paula has a fine legacy, but it’s taken. I need a name befitting a runner. I need a name that is green and fast and has more street cred that Chloris. Help!
Title Reference: U2 – Where the Streets Have No Name. From the album Joshua Tree. 1987.
I still think it looks like the Hulk on your tiny little wrist.
Ah-ha, now that makes sense. I thought it had to do with the immense power of the GPS. Or how it makes me totally crazy.
That too. But mostly the size of a manwatch on your tiny wrist. If your wrist were any smaller, we’d need to punch more holes in the band.
I think that would invalidate my warranty and with my luck, I need that warranty to remain valid.
Gazoo!
Hee. But would that make me Dumb-Dumb?
thanks for the kind words. your description is way more interesting than my blog. of course, your blog is also way more interesting than my blog, so i would expect nothing less.
but on to the name. ok, you gotta work with me on this one. i love the name LYNN.
lynn jennings is the perfect heroic runner. read back over her bio on wikipedia.1500 meters to marathon. but she did her best work on cross country courses. get it? GREEN!
three time world cross country champ, 2:38 at boston approaching age 39. followed her heart rather than the cash register. GREEN! and just always seemed like a really nice person.
and when you enter the latter stages of the race and hate your watch, you can call her Grim Lynn. Get it? Gremlin! GREEN! hahahahahahahahahaha sigh.
she’s gotta be watching goucher follow in her footsteps (miler to marathon) for millions of bucks. what color must she be with envy? hmmm. it’ll come to me.
oh, well. still better than my second choice, Nyquil. Hope you’re feeling better and recover exactly in time for the race. great look to you and the elite hubby!
I think that’s “elite”, not elite.
Although I think it is “professional” – either way, it’s both humbling and ridiculous!
i’m betting you’ve worked plenty hard to earn the “professional” title. and not getting paid for it. (and if it means you avoid getting trampled at the start, all the better.) i’ll be looking for “run shorts husband, professional runner” in the marathon results! good luck!
great look to you? this would’ve read “good luck” except that i’m left handed and typing on right handed keyboard. sorry.
How about Dash? It’s quick, has to do with running. Not sure where the green comes in. Green is my favourite colour and we my husband and I wanted to name our puppy Dash but our daughter put the kibosh on that and he is named Patch. If my entry does not win let me know. I just realized that my Garmin 405 could use a better name than “Elaine’s Garmin”. Good luck!
Like Dashal Incredible, from The Incredibles! Love it. My imaginary dog is named Chase.
p.s. Husband just calls his Husbandie.
Gumby!
Hee. My 2010 goal is improved flexibility. I’m only as old as my spine, or so my yoga teachers tell me as I they try to guide my fingers to my toes.
or if you want to go musical, how about Little Green? remember the joni mitchell song written for the child she was giving up for adoption? calling it Little Green will bring a psychological aid to strapping a refrigerator to your arm. and joni, of course, is canadian. also, given your track record with garmins, you’ll be giving up Little Green for adoption soon, so it’s only fitting. with your song-title blog theme, a song title for a watch would seem perfect.
man. i gotta sleep more.
I am unfamilair with this song, although I love Joni. I’m very drawn to the name. I’m convinced though that Little Green (trying it on for size) will not be sent to the orphanage, this one is for keeps!
I was thinking about a musical name too: Grease Lightning, You can’t get faster than that and how could you not want to keep moving when you think of that soundtrack?
That just might be the name of my new road bike, to be purchased in the spring (after much coveting at the fall bike show).
I also like Apple, b/c it’s green like a Granny Smith… and since you have a Pink Lady (also a type of appple), it would have a friend when it’s sitty with the other electronics… ooh! Granny! Call it Granny.
You could go Tolkien and call it Precious or Gollum (wasn’t Gollum a little green? and had two sides, just like your Garmin)… We hates dirty lying hobbits!
If it looks like the Hulk on your wrist, I guess the Garmin isn’t too dainty but Tnkerbell wore green and flew like the wind on her fairy dust (or would that be a banned substance).
Forrest Garmin
The Green Miler
which reminds me…please let me indulge.
I love that you name your gadgets too. My daughter named her bike Peter Claven, from the movie” I Love You Man”. Since mine was bigger and bulkier, I wanted to name it Hulk (reference from same movie) BUT it is black, so if I named it Hulk, who is green, it would get questioned beyond Rangoon, so I named him Lou Ferrigno.
Awesome. Also interesting – your bikes seem to have first and last names. My wheels are turning.
p.s. My bikes do not have names. That’s next.
I propose “Verdi”. Italian for green, and if you say it with a quick, rolly Italian accent it sounds like a very speedy word. Y’know?
Now to master the quick, rolly Italian accent.
I was very intrigued by this challenge! After giving it some thought I am proposing “Jade”. First used in ancient times for tools and weapons (your Garmin is your tool and not-so-secret weapon to staying on pace), considered the imperial gem by the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians considered it the stone of love, inner peace, harmony and balance. Today it’s still considered symbolic for energy and beauty.
My second suggestion is Fern. Just because it’s short and sweet.
Interesting. I had considered and discarded Jade, but I don’t think I gave it enough thought. Not that I’ve ever watched The Hills, gosh no, but Jade is an “actress” on the show and so I quickly dismissed the name. But you make some compelling points that don’t remind me of over-indulgence by the rish and famous.
I bow to your creativity. My plan: 26 miles, 26 names. At each mile of the marathon I’ll try out a new name. I’m hoping THE name will speak to me. My scientist-side wonders if the names attached to miles 20-26 are advantaged or disadvantaged – I may be grumpy, but I also tend to be extra susceptible to suggestion in my confused and glycogen-deprived state.
One problem. I still don’t have 26 contenders, so keep’em coming.
Here’s another suggestion… Willow.
They don’t do as well in hotter climates, prefer cool and moist conditions,
Also think of the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter. It’s a tree with attitude!
Ohhh, I like it.
I thought of Dash too, as in Dash Incredible. Then there’s Daphne – the speedster from Heroes (apparently I am a nerd).
Or maybe a great explorer – someone who never got lost and navigated using the stars?
I must be a nerd too, because I watch all of the above. I’m very into the idea of an explorers name ….
How about Greenie the Genie, it will transport you to the finish line!
DIGIT
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