At 4:15 yesterday afternoon I woke from NYE silliness, donned ski socks and sunglasses, and ran 5.12 miles through Southie. Up East 3rd Street and Broadway and eventually to Columbia Road, and along Carson Beach as the sun set. By the time I got back to Broadway and sprinted (yes, sprinted!) up the hill to L Street to circle home, the same sky was black and very dark when viewed through shades.
I love this kind of run. Made me forget the wallet is still missing, the glasses are still halved, the market still lost 34% in 2008.
(A mystery to me, this amnesiating. If it could make me forget lost loves, I'd run 20 miles a day.)
Winter running takes getting used to, especially the below-zero kind. The iPod helped..a repeat of Sandy Patty on "O, Holy Night" propelled me the first 20 minutes, when icy air was still ice in the lungs. Everything after that felt merely crisp. Even when crossing Columbia and stepping thigh-deep into a plow drift to get to the opposite side. By then blood flowed to hands and muscles were warm. Sidewalks were universally fingers of ice and packed snow....but how was it so easy to be surefooted, so much more so than when walking?
Another mystery.
When it is this cold I'm always glad to see other runners. Yesterday, at least 10 other folks jogged past. To a man, wearing matching UnderArmour skullcaps, jackets and black tights. To a man, we raised our first 2 fingers, casually, when passing...some silent code of respect for braving the hangover or the melancholy or the thermometer, or for just looking good (and not like space aliens) in our gear, or giving the impression that we all must be training for something.
And ergo, super cool. Amen.
The 2 miles along Carson Beach were equally cool and the most bone-chilling. I wish I had brought my phone to capture the pink sky behind the JFK Library and UMass, the wind gusting clouds of snow from the beach to the whitecaps.
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From AMJ (who was having a bit of trouble with the Google security measures....so e-mailed me these comments....)
I just look at you crazy people out jogging in the bitter cold and make myself another cup of hot chocolate.
Just finished a K-blog marathon after not finding time to keep up with it for a couple months. Feels like we never see you (or anyone) anymore with the baby schedule vs. late church conflict. Nice to be able to catch up a little online.
Should be working on our Christmas letter (you make me feel better, you know - goal this year is just 'earlier than last year', which I think was almost February).
And FYI, my glasses are also held together with scotch tape. Because the 4th round of superglue broke at work and there was nothing else. Tape works surprisingly well, must say. And it fits with the 'dorky engineer' chic I try so hard to cultivate...
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