Running with the Pack

Today is 4 weekends until Boston. But I have a slight speed-bump in my plans. late afternoon on Thursday, I was informed that my department, and hence my job was being eliminated. Considering that my company provided software and consulting to mortgage banks, I suppose it is not a total surprise- but it was a shock at the time. I feel guilty about all the money I have committed to travelling to Boston. My wife and I have a hotel for 4 nights, because i was intially thinking about bringing our kids, and taking my son to a Red Sox game at Fenway. My wife is about to start a new job, so we are lucky for that income.

Today is supposed to be above 50 degrees, but when I hit the trail at 7:30, it is still just around freezing. The gloves I am wearing are too thin, and my fingers get numb. I turn back after a mile, and I go back to the parking lot, and get thicker pair. I run another mile, and get back to the lot for the 8 o'clock start time. I let the group know that I left water about 4 miles west. Some people I know from my wife's triathlon club are here, getting ready for a bike ride. My wife was going to get here and run, but she isn't here yet. The running club wraps up their announcements, just as my wife shows up. She finds someone she met at our running club Halloweeen party, so I take off to get the rest of my miles in.

In the next half mile, I find out another Boston Qualifier is backing out of going because her husband lost his job. I tell her I might be interested in switching to her cheaper hotel room, since I lost my job. Since I got that uncomfortable topic out of the way, I now have an opening to talk to one of the other runners, Kurt, who is a commodities trader. Since I worked for the futures exchange, maybe he'll hear of something.

It's warming up now, and for the next five miles, I have a group strung out at various paces, each of whom I can run with for half-mile, or one or 2 miles. I find myself going at a faster pace than I want, so I let some of them run ahead. But at a bathroom stop, the rabbits make a pit stop, and I keep going. I miss the company, but it was tough changing those paces just to keep up with someone, especially if we were on hills. Now it is flat the rest of the way, but I will only see people I know running the other way. Like our friend Rich, who tells me that I have to run faster because my wife is ahead of me. I don't know if he realizes that I ran the 11 mile loop, and she probably ran 7-8. But I would like to catch up ot her, not to show her up, but to go by the parking lot running, and lay a sweaty kiss on her, without breaking stride. It's tricky, but I have managed it in all the marathons she has watched me run, and I plan to do it in Boston, too. Unfortunately, she is already gone when I get to the parking lot, and I have another mile to go, so I loop back and cool down and stretch. I guess I'll give her a kiss standing still at home.