old feelings

It's been a chilly 2010. The last 2 Sundays have been run in layered clothes. Last Sunday we rounded up a group of kids and fashioned an 8 mile beach/bridge run, including an assault on all 3 bridges that make up our old 14 mile Clearwater loop. It was a fun run, met out at a very leisure pace and was a reintroduction to running "long" for a few of the girls who hadn't done much since cross country season ended back in early November. The boys among the group did what they do, fartleking as on auto pilot, hurdling, and bolting around the girls like colts.

The highlight of the run was being able to cross the Belleair Beach Causeway bridge, which had been closed to pedestrian traffic for some 2 or so years, during its (re)construction process. Several among the local running club had been and turned away from or escorted off of the bridge by whatever law enforcement agency was patrolling the span during this time. I had looked forward to running over the thing again for the longest time and vowed to have a little party on the first Sunday following the opening. And we did so at the end of the trek with cinnamon rolls and asiago bagels at the Panera Bread, located about a 1/2 mile from the east end of the span. All present agreed that it was such a great time that we'd do the same run and bakery deal on the following Sunday.

But as the week went on, it got colder and when I didn't hear from any of the kids by Saturday night, I switched plans and decided to tag along with my old buddies who would be running a marathon in 7 days. The temp at the bank thermometer at the end of our street read 36 degrees as we headed out at 6:30 and with a slight breeze, it felt a little cooler yet. I had dug out my old long compression socks and long compression shorts and threw on a pair of poly sweat pants over them, intending to shuck them at the meeting place. I also had a long sleeve techie type shirt with a loose NB windbreaker over that and completed the set with a woolie beany and glove liners. Once we got there, I decided to keep the sweat pants on ( a very good move).

We struck out, eyes watering and noses running and got a nice wake up call courtesy of the crosswind on the 1st bridge at mile 2. My head got hot and sweaty (for the life of me, I can't wear those things) and I pulled it and the windbreaker off at the marina at mile 5...only to put the windbreaker back on just a few minutes later. I guess the slower pace gave me more time to focus on the wind chill or something. By this time, Robin's fingers were numb (a combination of the cold and gripping the bike handles, I think) so at each stop, I'd have her pull her gloves off and I'd do the Mr. Miyagi friction warm up with my warmed gloves on her bare fingers.

I have not run over 10 miles for a year or more and at mile 9, as the cramping and lower back fatigue set in, I thought back to the times when I was running pretty well and pretty long and how bad but good it was to be at mile 20 or a 23 mile run, knowing that you had more to go and wondering how your legs would allow this to happen. "Mile 9 feels like mile 19 used to feel" is what I said to anyone interested.

We pressed on further down the beach and back onto the mainland and I wisely aborted the idea of getting back to our starting place (for 17.5 miles) in lieu of just trying to get toward home (which was closer to 15) and Robin gamely peeled off to get back home and fetch a car (to stop the suffering and to hurry up breakfast). I resolved to run a "hard" last mile, shut the GPS off at the 14.5 mile mark, and walk until I was rescued.

It felt so good to crawl into the warm car, out of the freezing and sweat soaked running gear and into dry one size fits all bumwear during the ride to the restaurant. I had forgotten the feeling of trying to get out of a car or into a booth after a long run. I had forgotten how good those first sips of iced tea were, and how drinking feels much like filling tiny and thin flattened water balloons that I imagined my veins and arteries to be.

And I kick myself in the ass for getting too far away from these experiences by taking the time off from running "long" like I have these last few years.