Wet and Sloppy

"But it's so gray and damp," Larry said as he pulled the covers up under his chin. "Are you really going to go do this?"

With these encouraging words, I rallied myself out of the apartment this morning to head up to the Park, to run the NYRR Anniversary Run that I'd registered for a few weeks ago.

I walked outside into a drizzle, and found a taxi. "102nd and 5th please." Five minutes later it was a full-blown rain and I almost told the driver to turn around and take me home. But I bit my tongue and silently chanted the Nike slogan in my head, thinking that Jake probably got wetter and colder making The Day After Tomorrow than I was going to be over the next hour or so.

Yes, I really thought that.

The run itself was good. Certainly better than standing in the rain waitng for it to begin. It's always entertaining to go to these things solo and listen to conversations.

One really old man was talking about doing his first marathon last year, and walking into the Plaza hotel bar during the race and ordering a Beck's. "The guy at the bar saw my marathon bib and said the beer's on him. I should've ordered two."

And then there was the young lady standing near me, under a tree, waiting for the race to begin, bitching that the course was too short to get a real run it and that the pack wouldn't open up for a couple miles. She proclaimed that she was going to start at least 5 minutes after the gun, so that "the riff raff could clear out" and she could actually run.

I'm not fast. I guess I'm part of the riff raff. I hope someone tripped her.

So now the endolphins are swimming through my body, I've had a workout on a weekend and it's not even noon, and I'm motivated to run more and run faster. I'm in the lottery for this year's marathon. We'll know in a couple weeks if I'm in or out. I'm definitely going to get my 9 races in this year to qualify for 2005. Think of all the t-shirts I'll get. And all the cute runners I'll get to look at in the warmer, and hopefully drier, runs ahead.

Although, cute and wet does have its merits.