I put on three layers of clothes and drove down to the peninsula.
I put on my iPod and my gloves.
The thermometer in my truck read 18 degrees. I thought, "I wonder how
many other nut cases I'm gonna see down here today?"
It was cold, but there was no wind…just a faint winter breeze.
Snow was steadily falling. Not enough to white out the sky, but enough
to let you know it was winter…even though I think it's still way too
early for this stuff!
Everything was covered in sheets of ice. So I ran anyway.
I always start running at the waterworks and the trail was plowed up
to the marina road. At that point I moved out onto the road. The only
traffic was from duck hunters and some fisherman…barely any at all.
The running wasn't particularly fast. If I wasn't slipping on the ice
and doing a little shuffle to keep my balance, I was running over the
frozen piles of snow left by the plows…that feels like running on
large rocks.
All the same, I didn't really notice it. I made sure to pay attention
to my footing, but that's about it. I was pleasantly distracted.
Then I started looking around as I ran.
The trees had snow frozen to their branches. Every so often, a bird
would fly in front of me. No wind, just the breeze. And the snow. The
snow didn't stop the whole time I was there. But it didn't matter. It
was such a peaceful snow. Just lightly floating down to the ground.
Not really accumulating, just big, fat flakes floating down.
I felt like I was running in a snow globe that was settling.
I felt enclosed in the weather…like I was on the inside of the snow
globe looking out. Not confined, just enclosed for the moment. There
was a certain peace that came with that feeling. I didn't even notice
that I had run 8 miles…the only thing that woke me up was seeing
another runner (the only other nut case I saw) and my truck in the
parking lot.
And I thought to myself…there will be a day when I can no longer do
this…thank God, today is not that day.
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