What a Difference a Day Makes

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the temperature in NYC reached 57 degrees and this morning the temperatures reached 27 degrees with a -2 degree wind chill factor. It snowed over night and the ground has a nice 2 inch cover of snow and ice. I love this kind of weather, even more than I like foggy weather.

Adversity brings out the best in many of us and adverse weather conditions bring out the best in me. One of the things that contributed to today’s harsh conditions was the salt spreader truck roaming around Prospect Park. It would shoot salt out of the back and the force of the pellets hitting my legs would sting something awful. I have several red dots over my thighs and calves of both legs from encountering this orange beast many times over the course of my run. You can see the salt coming out of the back of the truck.

The temperature wasn’t the only major contrast over the past couple of days. My run today was absolutely spectacular compared to my foggy day run. I knew it would be good the moment I took my first step. I felt calm and relaxed and my legs moved with fluidity that I haven’t felt in a while. I knew I would easily get my 12 miles in and I wondered if I should try for more.

Soon into my run, I met my friend Chris. We quickly fell into a steady conversational pace. I kept exclaiming how beautiful the conditions were, but he was not convinced. He saw a nasty, cold and windy winter day, while I saw amazing winter wonderland conditions. We talked about various things, which included complaining about our wives. I think bitching about one’s spouse is almost a universal thing to do, at least when it comes to athletic spouses complaining about non-athletic spouses – or maybe it is just a guy thing to do.

Chris kept me company for my middle two laps. For my 4th and final lap I turned up my radio and simply enjoyed the scenery. Music sets the mood and the tunes on the radio were making me feel very upbeat. I finished my run feeling like a million bucks and looking forward to many more days like today.