Jan. 28, 2013
Today I am 192.2 pounds of rolling thunder.
So today was one of those rare mid-winter days
when a warm breeze blows into town, and all over the city windows are flying
open and curtains are being pulled wide apart to let the sunshine in.
The humid air felt more like a pre-storm day in
April than a typical dry cold day in late January.
If you heard those emergency sirens today,
perhaps you thought they were coming for me. We've all heard about the whales
that beach themselves for no known reason, and then the entire population of
some resort town on the coast spends days and dollars trying to get the beast
safely back out to sea.
It was so warm today I decided to launch my run
today wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Gone were the double layers of tights and
sweat pants. Gone were the days of donning a T-shirt, turtleneck, pullover and
a jacket just to stay warm. Gone were the headband and hat combining to keep my
ears warm.
Today was back to the freedom of summer. And
back, too, were those pearly white legs that hadn't seen sunlight since late
autumn. I'm sure the glare blinded many a driver as I rolled slowly past them
on my 6-mile run/walk.
It's a real feeling of freedom when you can give
up the trappings of winter, lose the heavy clothes and run unencumbered, even
if it's just for a day.
Somewhere around mile No. 4 I went from man to
manatee. It was so warm that I shed my shirt and became something resembling
the giant marine mammal.
Surely there were villagers who were going to
rush up and try to put me back in the ocean (it's OK, I live thousands of miles
from the ocean). Surely if I slowed to a stop they'd be sure I had beached
myself in the hope of being saved.
No, it was just the world's slowest human running
sans shirt for the first time in months and not a manatee. Call off the sirens.
Townspeople go back to work. Nothing to see here. Just a guy, his radio and a
pair of running shoes.
No comments:
Post a Comment