Only you can change your attitude

Day 27 -- Labor Day, Sept. 3, 2012

Today I'm 193 pounds of rolling thunder.

Rolling Jell-O might be more accurate, but rolling thunder sounds much more ominous.

The Runner's World Kick in the Butt Quote of the Day comes from Olympic and Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius, and today I'm feeling the love for the so-called "Blade Runner."

"The only disability in life is having a bad attitude," he is quoted as saying.

Today I'm having a little bit of a bad attitude. Not about running, but about watching running.

I ran fine yesterday. Rolling Thunder got in his 45 minutes of me-time over lunch break in high humidity and 90-plus degree temps.

No, today's bad attitude is directed at the gods of scheduling. More than a week ago I volunteered to pick up a Labor Day shift at work and given the option, I chose the early morning start instead of the late-night slog. At that point, Labor Day was wide open, so it made perfect sense.

Then came Isaac. Tropical Storm Isaac. Hurricane Isaac. Tropical Depression Isaac. Rain-maker Isaac.

We woke early Saturday thinking it would be the first cross country race of the season. Isaac had brought his special brand of rain to our area starting around noon on Friday and had been dropping a steady rainfall for more than 12 hours.

Isaac's rain was a welcome respite for an area that hadn't seen significant rainfall in months. But Isaac was not a friend to high school runners. An email informed us that the meet was canceled, so we took it to mean have a good holiday weekend.

Rumors about a Labor Day meet started to arise late Saturday afternoon and by midnight we had the email. The meet was on for Monday. 

At that point I was committed to word and would have to miss the first meet of the year. With all due respect to today's Kick in the Butt, this had my butt kicked. I had a bad attitude about missing the event.

And as it turns out, Mr. Pistorius might just have a little bit of a vulnerable side, too. On Sunday at the Paralympic Games, he was on his way to a third consecutive 200-meter gold medal when he was beaten at the line by another double amputee. 

Pistorius criticized the winner, claiming he used longer carbon fiber prosthesis than allowed. The Blade Runner drew immediate criticism of his own for his comments after the race. But then he quickly recovered with an apology.

“I would never want to detract from another athlete’s moment of triumph and I want to apologize for the timing of my comments,” he said.

So, it just goes to show even the best of us can have a lapse in attitude. The most important thing is that you are in control of that attitude, so change it and have a good day .... working, or not working.

Sometime this Labor Day you'll find the world's slowest human out on the streets, so give me a wave.