11/21/2014
Rough patches are meant to test a person’s resolve. How much can one endure until one quits? How much stuff has to break before the mind snaps? Each little mishap starts to grow in magnitude. It is much like the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Often the mishaps in life come at a person in flurries. They attack you mentally and physically. The best thing to do in those situations is to tackle one problem at a time and to remember that there is sunshine after the rain.
When we left for the day’s starting point, I could feel beads of perspiration forming on my forehead. AS the sun’s rays touched my face I thought to myself, the chance of rain seems pretty slim today. I hit the road in a light thermal shirt, and some compression pants. As of recently, my body has demanded more warm up time to take on the physical challenges of each day. On day 83 my legs agreed to cooperate after a ten mile warm up. After hitting fourteen I encountered Crystal waiting for me on the side of the road. We took a breather and played a movie on my computer while Crystal prepared grilled cheese sandwiches and green beans. The meal was simple but the combination tasted great and satisfied my nutritional needs.
Nature seemed to be on my side when my body didn’t want to cooperate but, once I found a groove her generosity fled. One mile after lunch, rain started to trickle. Another mile later, the rain began to pour. One cell phone had already become a casualty to water damage on this trip, I didn’t want to lose another so I looked everywhere for cover. I found to my left an old abandoned motel calling my name. Various plants were creeping through the crevices of the walls. Were there wild animals in there seeking shelter as well? The place was dry and it provided me protection from the water. More importantly my phone would stay dry. It wasn’t as if I had many options at that point.
Shivering and sneezing, I prayed for a window of opportunity. I would make a dash for the town at my first chance. Once the rain returned to a sprinkle I thought I had that window. That was a major miscalculation on my part. With each step the rain fell ever more ferociously. My aches and pains disappeared as I focused on each step. Water sloshed in my shoes but as long as my phone was dry I was happy. Then it happened, I felt the moisture reach my upper thigh where the pocket with the phone was located. I could do nothing but run forward. I was already more than halfway to the next town. As my clothes grew heavier from the permeating water I tried to run faster. When I reached the first buildings of the Flatonia border the rain lightened. By the time I reached the trailer the rain had completely stopped and the sun was laughing at the sight of my dripping wet body. I changed out of my damp gear, hydrated, put on an earlier pair of dry running shoes and hit the road again. I chose to focus on the last 12 miles of the day.
The phone stayed in the trailer while I ran with minimal gear. If I was going to run in the rain I wanted the rain to slip off me. I didn’t want all the clothing weighing me down. Water would not be my problem on the second part of the day. Instead I would encounter a dozen loose growling dogs. At first I believed I was secure. It looked as if they were locked behind the gate of a large home. But, by the corner, a hole had been created where the dogs could escape. I ran towards the rocks that lined the sides of the railroad tracks and picked up two handfuls of rocks. With my arm raised in the air, the dogs were deterred. They continued barking on their side of the street but they never approached. I finished my run to Schulenburg and took comfort at the Schulenburg R.V. resort.
Leave a reply