Soggy Day in Gainesville Thinking About Race

Although this article is being published in the very wee morning hours of Saturday, I am writing it Friday at about 2 PM in my favorite Starbucks store in Gainesville here at Magnolia Parke. It has been raining buckets nonstop all day long (and going back into last night). I am so glad that the LifeSouth Half-Marathon that I am entered to run in, scheduled for Sunday, won't occur under weather conditions like today's. I probably would have stayed out of it had it been raining like this then. On the other hand, temperatures at the race's 7 AM starting time are predicted to be in the mid-to-high 20s and are not expected to rise appreciably higher by the time I plan to finish it around 9. This is quite a departure from the previous races that LifeSouth has held, with the temperatures generally being around 15 to 25 degrees warmer.

But then, why am I complaining when two major blizzards just hit the northeastern states, Dallas is experiencing a snowstorm, and California is awash in misery with its torrential rains and mudslides? Thanks a lot, El Niño. And now I hear, to compound things further, that this troublesome climate pattern will make its exit just in time to usher in what (with apologies to one who deserves no apologies, Saddam Hussein) may well be the "mother of all hurricane seasons". Will 2010 be known as the "year of interesting weather"? It certainly is living up to that billing so far!

Regarding my apparel for the half-marathon, I had first decided that, given initial forecasts of race temperatures being in the 30s and 40s, to try running with my sweatshirt on to see if it worked with those temperatures. And it was O.K., until the thermometer began to crack the mid-40s. Then it became awfully stuffy. Now, though, I think I should have no problem running with it with temperatures being lower than expected. Also, I'm eschewing shorts and running with full-length pants.

The irony is that, with all of this emphasis nationwide on holding marathons in cold conditions, I recently ran a training half-marathon quite well when the temperature was 70 degrees. Oh well, I guess I can chalk that one up to me being a Floridian for almost my whole life!!