SHORTS IN JANUARY

It was a lovely warm day in Iowa today with the temperature at 41.2 degrees when I went out for my run. It was only the third time this month that the temperatures were above freezing, so I took advantage of the weather and wore shorts as I did about two weeks ago. I actually got warm running in shorts which might have been surprising to the all the people outside in winter coats.

The high temperatures meant that the snow from weeks ago was melting. This left puddles. For those two houses along my running route who don't shovel their sidewalks, it meant a small river. Of course, I didn't notice this at first so I ran straight into the puddles. My shoes became soaked only ten minutes into my run and there were even more puddles to deal with. So I did the only thing I could do. I jumped in them. I must have looked like an idiot to the cars passing by but it made my run a lot more fun and took my mind of my tired legs. Sure, my shoes were soaked, my former white socks are now brown, my shorts were damp from my splashing, and my legs were wet, but it was fun acting like a kid. It made my 6.92 miles seem like nothing as I tried to make my splashes bigger and better.

Since it was warm there were many people outside. Lots of cars drove by me on one part of my route where I have to run on the sidewalk. Some drove close to the edge of the road so they'd hit all the puddles making big splashes that I had to avoid. Along with the splashing cars, I had two people yell at me. I've had people yell at me before but usually only one person per run, when I'm running by myself. With the team it seems like everybody yells but that must be their way of supporting us because they don't go to our meets. I kind of like the cheers because it lets me know that people are watching me which makes me go faster. It also reminds me of meets and it makes my run more fun. Some guy in an old truck that was riding close to the edge of the road yelled something uncomprehendable at me during my run but they were not able to get me wet. Less than ten minutes later a car drove by with one guy hanging out the window yelling "Hey yo" at me and waving. Strange people must only come outside when it's warm.

I appreciated the warm weather and would like to see more of it. Not warm warm, but 40's and 50's I like. Just running in shorts makes me go faster. It also helps me ignore how sore and tired I am. Hard work becomes much easier.