Where: Lee Elementary (21st & Boston)
It’s A Gamble
You may have already heard, but me and Snow done broke up – it’s over – we’re finished - Kabut with a capital "K".
And this time I think it might just be permanent. Really. I don’t care if it comes floatin’ back, soft and all fluffy looking, or even masked in the form of crystal clear round pellets that make spectacular splashes in pools of water. I think it’s mostly a matter of too much, all at once, with Snow refusing to listen and abide by a firm “No” meaning truly, “just stop it – stop it right now”. Unless of course … No STOP IT! I don’t even want to think about what if’s or if only’s …. but still ….You see, I’ve got this work thang, and then there’s this runnin’ thang, along with this XXXXX thang (almost tricked me into divulging that one – thank goodness for editorial privilege). All this came to an abrupt and sudden stop, when this Snow Thang, wrapped in a blizzardly special delivery package, comes a bangin’ at the door, the roof, and worst of all, streets, sidewalks, and driveways. Like some demented Flake who takes delight in watching me take momentary flight with both heels simultaneously raised to unrecoverable heights, ol’ Snow even hedged its bets by stashing an Ice up its sleeve, carefully laying it under seemingly safe footing.
When Snow finally paused for restocking its arsenal, Snow then beckoned me out to play, if you call slingin’ a shovel for hours at a time “playing”. Getting played is more like it. All this snow and no place for it to go. You see, ol’ Snow teamed up with ol’ man Sol, where they conspired to keep temps down so that there would be no melturation going on, ensuring that “playing” outside would be the only way to combat the drifts. The alternative of letting the fluffy stuff turn to ice and remain until July was not an attractive alternative. And to make matters worse, I must embarrassingly reveal that my snow shovel of a few years back was mistakenly of the left handed variety – or so I suspicion, as continued utilization of that dreaded implement left me with sore back, neck, legs, arms, and most importantly – sore attitude.
With the last shovelful tendered, into the house I did slither, thinking I would be able to recover and run again in a measly 6-7 weeks or so. But my ex-Flame with the remarkable cold shoulder would have none of this, as a round two 4-inch “dusting” was freshly delivered in kidney-punching fashion, along with a non-romantic-in-the-least whispering of “there’s plenty more where this came from”. “And if you don’t get your saggin’ arse back out here and “play”, then it’s only gonna’ get worse – for you, not me.” It seems that Snow would not be denied, and playing hard to get was not an acceptable strategy. Drawing renewed strength from being Runners World trained, versus snow shovel drained, it was back to the clearing, or disgustingly, “play” if you will. As we’ve come to appreciate, RW cadets may get tired and may be runnin’ on residual Gu fumes, but we don’t quit. So ol’ Snow, if you think you’re gambling with us, it really ain’t gambling at all, cause we got a sure bet.
Kinda’ like Saturday’s RW Poker Run, scheduled for 7:45 AM, with a start from and finish at Lee Elementary (21st and Boston). Just park at your fave place near Veteran’s Park, and stretch on over for some inspiring words of wisdom from Pretty Boy Brian (that wisdom part was stretching the rubber band just a tad bit more than manufacturer’s recommendation) on how to trade 5 cards collected during a 5 mile mystery route run into fabulous prizes. Blowing the cover on the brain trust held jiggly like too many holiday calories under his skin, PB Brian returns the $5 minimum Poker Run contribution entry fee to us runners in the form of training run snacks and water/Gatorade stations – all of it.
When asked about the financial aspects of this “take it in and then give it all back” concept, Brian responds that he hopes that a lot of people come out and participate, and that maybe the extra volume will make it all work out. Plus, just to help keep this interesting, Runners World donates all kinds of runners’ bling – clothing, prizes, and riot-inciting stuff to be distributed to the lucky participants. All you can do is smile, tell Brian that’s an interesting thought, and hope Coach K keeps a close watch on him, especially around deep water, and more especially around desserts.So, turn your shovel over, set it down, and come out and REALLY PLAY on Saturday. It’s a gamble you won’t regret.
Larry
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