Scotland run

Awful awful run this morning!! The Scotland run this year remained true to its name: it was pouring the entire time we were outside. Already by the time I reached the park, I was soaked. The rain jacket I had on didn't help much. It was also cold: it's been an odd spring so far, lots of rain and not many warm days. There was water everywhere! In my shoes, on my pants, hands felt like icicles for much of the run, people in front of me were kicking water up into my face: overall, just not a good experience. In spite of all this, I did pretty well, at 8:36 minutes/mile, I did my best 10K so far. Maybe I just really wanted to get out of the rain!

What impresses me though, about runners, is that even in this horrible weather, there were thousands of people out there: not only the runners themselves, but all the volunteers - who are probably also runners - and even people cheering. Maybe a bunch of crazy people running in the rain are even more amusing to watch than a bunch of crazy people running in nice weather. It reminds me of this race last winter: there was a snow storm the night before and the NY Road Runners had announced that they wouldn't be timing the race because it was too dangerous. Still, thousands of people showed up at the snow-covered park in sub 0 temperatures - including myself and a few friends - to run the 4 mile race. Kristin Armstrong's latest blog entry was about a really tough half marathon she had done. She said she had been thinking about quitting the whole time she was in the race, but she pushed through. Her reason: she doesn't run because it's easy or even fun all the time; she runs because it's so real. I thought about that a lot yesterday: it can't get any more real than running along with thousands of fanatics when the forces of nature are out to get you!

The hot shower when I got home felt as good as those do in the dead of winter, when you get home from playing in the snow. I didn't want to get out! A bunch of us made brunch plans for right after the race though, so I had to hurry. This has to be the best deal in town: Mexican place, brunch - yummy breakfast burritos - with coffee and unlimited Mimosas for $10.95!! Wow, it's dangerous actually! They just kept refilling our glasses, didn't even have to ask. It made up for all the water in the morning! And by the afternoon, the sun even came out, sort of.