Rain

People in southern California freak out when it rains.  Its like they forget that its normal for winter months to be wet, and that it happens every year.  I mean, if it didn’t rain here this whole area would be a desert, and we’d have to pump water from great distances in order to water our lawns and support an otherwise inappropriate agriculture industry.  And that would just be silly…

I ran track and cross country in high school.  I was never great, in fact during senior year I was flat out terrible, but usually did well enough to keep the coaches satisfied.  One meet in particular I remember surprising everyone.

It was the first meet after spring break.  In Chicago this was the time of year between blizzards and heat waves, and the weather develops schizophrenia.  On this day it wasn’t actually raining, but the mist was so thick I was soaked to the bone just walking around outside.  The combination of low temperature and being wet typically makes running miserable.

I clearly remember I was sitting on the bus and I said to myself “Fuck the rain, I’m here to run.”

The only race I remember running was the 800m open.  I held with the pack through the first lap.  Right at the 400m mark two things happend, everyone but the two guys in front of me fell back, and both of my shoes came untied.  I didn’t notice.  Around the last turn I was even with the guy in 2nd place.  Coach Samo was yelling a body mechanics lesson, “pump your arm, get your knees up.”   Coach Bokor, the guy who could intimidate someone while reading a grocery list,  just said “Move your ass.”  With less than 100m left I pulled ahead and finished the race second, ran a personal record, and impressed the coaches.  Also, it turns out that the entire crowd was watching the race, and everyone was shocked I didn’t step on my own shoelaces and face plant on the track.

The point of this is I not only try to ignore adverse conditions, but frequently I thrive despite them.

Its raining today in San Diego, and while I don’t have a race to run, I do have a lot of stuff to do and the rain isn’t going to hinder me.

Tags: Who I Am