Fresh Air and Sunshine

I know my feelings for this marathon have wavered greatly over the past few months, but it is dang hard to complain when the snow has melted, the sun shines everyday, and I can finally exercise without multiple layers, a hat, and gloves. Not only is it nice to get some Vitamin D up in this piece, it is also wonderful to stay away from the inevitable sticky stench of cold-sweat that builds up so quickly in running clothes when they are layered on top of a body confused about whether to be hot or cold. I’m all for doing what it takes to run outside, but I’m not much of a laundry-doer, per se. If I can’t smell it from its folded place in the drawer, then it’s not too stinky to wear again. I sure don’t miss having almost-frozen snot dribbling down my chin, (even if I can never feel it because when it’s that cold, my face is numb anyway), I don’t miss freezing my tootsies off and having them be borderline-frostbitten for hours after I come back inside (even though twelve years in racer’s ski boots definitely prepped them for cramped and frozen conditions), and I absolutely don’t miss waking up in the dark, looking out into the cold, gray, miserable weather and knowing I have to force myself to get outside for an hour or two (lest I wish to endure the wrath of the treadmill). No, I don’t miss these things at all.

If I could train for a marathon whenever I wanted, it would be in the spring. It’s not too hot yet, it gets light early and stays light pretty late, the sun is out at least five days a week (I’ve been counting), and everyone is in a great mood. You get lots of waves and smiles from people walking or driving by (except that old man this morning who told Law School BF to “f%^ing wait for the light you a%$wipe!” even though there is actually no crosswalk light. Moron). You don’t have to cram a puny run into the two minutes of daylight you barely have before or after you get out of work. It smells like fresh earth, or what I picture fresh earth to smell like, and if you have a doggy friend, he loves to smell and dig and paw every old pile of leaves, bundle of pine needles, blade of new grass, and generally wag his tail at how great the springtime is, making you feel like the best mistress in the world (which, naturally, you are anyway).

Here’s what you can do in the spring if you have a thick, black, possibly-from-a-husky fur coat on: go swimming. Bruschi the Mutt doesn’t swim in the typical four-feet off the ground, floating around panting and paddling kind of way. He just plops in the shallow end, rolls around a little on his haunches, laps up a few licks, does a circle, and he’s ready to go. This is especially grand if the swimming “pool” is more like a half-inch deep pile of old leaves and new mud. It’s even better for dog-swimming if it can take place between the last clean-water opportunity and home so one does not have to be stripped of the cooling mud/leaf combo. Needless to say, we have more than one skanky old towel hanging right inside our entry way.

Ahh, springtime!