When James Taylor sang in Fire and Rain "Lord knows when the cold wind blows it'll turn your head around," he must have been thinking about this morning's race. The day started warm and humid, drizzly but not cold. The weather service was warning of a strong cold front but I didn't take it very seriously, wearing only the race-day t-shirt and some Bermuda shorts.
About 200 people turned out for the race. The starting gun sounded and we took off towards Closner, turning north to see a dark gray line of cloud heading our way. By the time I got to the HEB a blast of icy air hit me that was just like a freezer door being opened. Then the drizzle went from warm to cold and the wind started howling. It felt like I was on the front porch of Santa's Workshop, with leaves, bits of paper and trash, and rain all blowing straight into our faces at 40MPH.
Some of the other participants looked like their perseverence was being tested. I'm always at the back of the pack, but I passed about 10 people, some of whom looked somewhat oppressed by the conditions. I walked fast to Cano and when the route turned south, with the wind at my back, I decided to start running, just to see if the wind would give me an assist.
My first goal was just to make it to the next traffic light. I didn't feel tired when I passed it, so I set my sights on the next light, and so on, until I passed the stoplight in front of the Echo Hotel. By that time I knew I could jog all the way to the finish. First time running two miles, personal best, woot!
At the awards ceremony I talked to some people wearing wrist-top GPS computers. You wouldn't believe how many people have them now. At the starting gun, I noticed many people punching the timer start button on their wrists.
I finished second to last at 45:30. I don't know what happened to those other people I passed but they didn't make it across the finish line. When I finished I was so cold and wet that I couldn't feel my face, but inside I was feeling the goofy sense of happy exhaustion that comes with exertion.
2 comments:
You almost make me, a lifelong foe of gratuitous movement, want to take this up. Not quite, though. Which is too bad, because my participation would boost you to third from last.
Almost makes me feel better about the cr@ppy weather we have had here all winter long, but not quite! All you need to do now is run one more mile and you will be nowhere near last.
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