It stood alone, sand-colored and splendid, casting a long shadow and reminding me of many trips made to our nation’s capital.  At 65 mph, with moderate traffic, I strained to see the landmarks known world wide.  The Washington Monument and the Capitol Building were the only two I managed to spot.  The city always awes one.  You can virtually feel the power that resides there.  Driving from Virginia to New Jersey, I moved swiftly over the Potomic and through the district.  I’m making another of my ECT’s.  That’s East Cost Tours.  Having family in VA, DE and NJ allows me to see a lot of terrain and not feel confined to my Pennsylvania moutains.

No running for the third straight day has allowed my legs to regain some bounce and complain only slightly about the task I put them through on Saturday.  I probably won’t run until Thursday when I return home.  Then I’ll move back into the normal routine.  Almost time to start looking for the next race!

The morning after the race, today, provided a few extra pains and aches.  You would think that with regular running, even a longer run like a half marathon, wouldn’t present much of a problem.  Well, you might think that, and I guess that if you were, oh, say 20 or 22, you would probably be right.  Now, I’m not one to play the age card, but, suffice it to say, my legs and back are not happy with me today.

The race was a great event.  Friday night, the rain pelted the roof so hard it woke me a couple times, and I seriously wondered what would happen if it didn’t at least slow down.  By morning, though, the deluge had stopped, and though the skies threatened with their black, luminous clouds, not a drop fell on the nearly 4 thousand runners.  It was warm, more like an April than November morning in Virginia.  As we drove downtown to the starting area, my son and I discussed whether or not I should wear my Gortex jacket.  He had already decided against his, but I was adamant that I would need mine because I was sure we had not seen the end of the rain.  Besides, I reasoned, I could always take it off, roll it up, (tying around the waist wouldn’t work because I zipped off the sleeves transforming it into a vest) and carry it.  As anyone who has ever run distances knows however, carrying anything in your hands is awkward and seems to require a lot of extra effort.  My son was sure I wouldn’t need it and would regret taking it, but with my mind made up, I wore the jacket, even though we both knew that the one who owns the clothes, totes the clothes.

At about the 6 mile mark, I was drenched, not from rain but from the sweat, and removed the jacket, much to the deleight of my son.  In another mile, I was seriously tiring and my son, whose heart is as big as a house, took the jacket.  Had it been necessary, I’m sure he would have carried me as well, and never uttered a word of complaint.  That’s the kind of kids I have, and there has never been a prouder father.

We finished the race, in a sub par time, but we finished.  My son, who could easily have lopped 30 minutes off his time without me, never left my side.  Dropping the jacket, we posed for a picture with our medals hanging from our necks as if we were Olympic champions.

Today and Friday will be rest days. I woke this morning to a rain that seemed intent on washing the streets and I immediately thought that it was a great day to rest. As Saturday approaches, I will drink more water than usual and hope the legs are satisfied with their 2 day rest. Here’s the challenge:

Just into today’s run I watched a flock of small birds navigating at high altitude.  What could best be described as swarm like, they flew in short bursts with no apparent leader.  Direction changed with abandon, seemingly only inches separating their wings, appearing more like a computer generated screen saver than real life.  The flock increased and decreased in size, left then right, ahead then back, never colliding and sensing the moves in a brilliant coordinated display.  A larger bird, apparently a threat, occasionally dove into the mass of smaller prey, but did little to interrupt their progress.

Later I approached the cemetery I often run in, with its peaceful collection of flags rippling on Veteran’s day.  In the slight breeze, Old Glory moved in every direction, possibly an acknowledgement to all who lay beneath her.  I am a veteran and proud to be.  I don’t often think of that portion of my life, and when I do it seems distant and surreal.  Although my service was at the time a sacrifice, it didn’t in any way approach what countless others lost.

The wind poured through the bare branches and twisted the tall grasses in the East garden almost to the ground.  At 31 degrees and with the wind gusts, this could truly be a too day.  It was just about too cold, way too windy and definitely too raw to run this morning.  So, of course I went out.  I’ve written about the too days before.  Too hot, cold, rainy, snowy, windy, humid….the too reasons or excuses can be endless.  It’s November and the weather will only get worse for the next few months.  If you want to use a treadmill, that’s fine.  I like to run outside.  It felt so good today, I almost forgot about the wind at times.  As I was just about finished, another runner, Kevin, came up the street towards me.  I turned and ran with him for about 5 minutes as we talked about, what else….running.  It wasn’t a long run, only about 3 1/2 miles, but it was invigorating.  I hope I can keep this feeling all week.  The race is Saturday.