On The Run - 12/21/08

2.73 mi / 42.09 min / 15.24 mpm

It as if I am locked in a game of "I dare you" with mother nature . . .

My last three runs have been:
1) Light rain
2) Raining cats and dawgs
3) 28 Degrees and snow pack

This morning it was 28 degrees, 2-4 inches of freshly fallen snow and 80 mph wind gusts . . .

"Well," I thought as I pulled on my shoes, "the next time you are laying in bed wondering if you should go out and run on the snow in 28 degree darkness, you can remind yourself that you have run in worse; freshly fallen snow and 80 mph wind gusts . . ."

The mother-in-law was already up and she helped find me a windbreaker I could wear. The wife was feeding the wee-one and the father-in-law had already gone to the church to shovel the drifts away from the doors.

I figured I would run the opposite direction that I did the other day and maybe run by the church and help out with the shoveling.

I cued up my new Kareem Salama album . . . this was no namby-pamby Christmas music run, this was going to be a tough country music, I'm a soldier, boot-in-terrorist-hind-parts-sort-of-run (he doesn't say that in any of the songs on this album but he did use a similar phrase in the NPR interview . . .)

The photo above is my first tracks from the front door heading out this morning . . .

As I headed down the street I thought, "This isn't so bad . . . It feels colder . . . and there is definitely more wind . . . and more ice on the ground to avoid . . . but nothing I can't handle . . ."

Then I turned the corner and headed East . . .

YEEEEOOOOWWWWAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!

The wind gust almost knocked me down . . . my jacket was flapping and snapping in the wind which felt like a storm of little needles hitting my face . . . . my sneakers were buried in the drifts with each step, snow hitting my exposed calves . . . .Ummmm . . .



As we near the end of what turned out to be a pretty tumultuous 2008, I have been trying to reflect and what it all means and what I have learned. One thing I think I have learned is that sometimes the things that look impossible are merely hard. But the only way you realize that they aren't impossible is by taking that first step and doggedly putting one foot in front of the other no matter what the odds.



All throughout this past year, my wife has asked me, "How are we going to handle this?". My response has always been, "I don't know . . . one hour at a time I guess . . ."



The other day, we were looking at some photos from the year and my wife in amazement asked, "How did we handle all that?" and my response was the same . . ."I don't know . . . one hour at a time I guess . . ."



So I decided to carry on this morning, one step at a time and see how far I would get before having to turn back . . .

A couple more turns and I was at the church. My father-in-law had already headed for home in the 4x4 after cancelling church this morning. So I had a decision to make . . . which way now?

I decided to keep heading into the wind . . . just to prove some idiotic point to myself . . .

I crossed the highway and saw a sign for a nature trail . . . I turned into it and the wind immediately died down - blocked by the trees . . .

I thought of a scene in the Band of Brothers . . . if you haven't watched the series, it might not mean much but if you have seen it, the quote is a good one . . .

Richard Winters: Harry, fire's not a good idea.
Harry Welsh: Just a couple of minutes. We're in a dell.
Richard Winters: A dell? Like where fairies and gnomes live?
Cpt. Nixon: I swear I thought I could smell a fire... I DID smell a fire. Are you out of your mind?
Richard Winters: Well, we're in a dell.
Cpt. Nixon: Huh?

I was in a dell . . . and I was making first tracks . . . Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful . . .


If you think this photo is beautiful, keep in mind it was taken with my lousy cell phone and has not been touched up at all . . . that's how beautiful it was!

My runs are feeling more legitimate now that I am running 1 minute, walking four, running 1 etc.

As I listened to the roar of the wind in the trees overhead and took in the winter beauty all around me and posed the questions to myself again; "Would you rather be out here or inside in PJ's, warm cuppa joe in hand?"

"Out here - most definitely . . ."

I reached the half-way point and turned back. When I exited the nature trail, the wind hit me full force once again but this time it was at my back pushing me home.

I took off my shoes on the front porch, banged them together to knock off the snow and stepped back into the warmth permeated with the smell of fresh-brewed coffee.

"You're crazy, boy" the father in law said shaking his head.

I smiled and thought, "It only looks that way from in here . . . out there, it all makes perfect sense . . "