Opening Day! (of Allergy Season)

Friday night, I went over to my parents' place (because I like to party) and immediately started sneezing when I walked in the door. This isn't at all unusual -- my parents still have two dogs and a cat as a ploy to ensure I never, ever move back and only visit for short periods of time, sporadically at best.

The thing was, after I left, I didn't stop sneezing. Not in the few hours after, not the next day, nor the day after that. It just went on through the entire weekend. Now as I type, my eyes itch, my breathing is wheezy, and I have a box of Kleenex next to my desk. Hmm... it must be allergy season.

Oh joy.

Let me tell you, I absolutely love springtime. For anyone who lives in the Northeast, you know how great this time of year can be. The snow/sleet/rain/hail/ice cubes from heaven have stopped falling. You can't see your breath in the morning and you fingers don't feel like they're going to fall off in the time it takes to walk from your front door to your car.

Up here, spring is an event. People start wearing shorts and flip-flops once it hits 50, even though it's still probably about a month too early. Red Sox jerseys and sun dresses re-enter as wardrobe staples. Bikers pull their motorcycles from storage (note to Sonja: think how glorious it would be to take that first scooter ride of the season? Can I PLEASE get one?). Everyone gathers outside to hang out in driveways and on front porches while soaking in the sun's rays. It's glorious. It's a total "winter's over" reawakening, and I love it. I celebrate it. I flip-flop and short it. I even played nine holes on Saturday (so I could repeatedly four-putt it).

Everything would be perfect if I could just breathe.

My goodness, is this time of the year awful for fellow allergy sufferers. The majority of you won't get what I'm talking about, but with the flowers blooming and trees budding, it's like two weeks of hell on earth for people like me. The worst thing is that I shouldn't be outside, but it's so nice that I just can't avoid it. I want to swing the clubs. I want to run 15-20 miles a week. I want to go for walks downtown and sit on the side porch. And, ideally, I'd like to do it without feeling like my head is going to explode.

Still, it's a small price to pay for spring. See you out there! I'll be the guy with the surgical mask on.

Photo from Kleenex.com

Why I run...

Allow me to pat myself on the back for just a second... this weekend, my running buddy Dan and I ran 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 40 minutes, completing the first full marathon of our lives.

Bravo, boys, bravo. "Come see how good I look."

I'd been meaning to write about running here for a while now, but kind of never got around to it. As you can see from the sidebar on the right (I'm pointing at it now - see?), one of my "current obsessions" was to run a marathon. Now, it's been updated for running my next one - time TBA.

I think one of the reasons I put off writing about running is that it's really an intensely personal experience. I know that sounds cliched or whatever, but it's true. When you run, you are the only one out there. You're not running against anyone, just yourself, your limits and your past times. You are the one hauling yourself out of bed in the morning or hitting the road late at night; you are the only one that's sore; you are the only one who knows if you could have done better or if you pushed your body harder and farther than ever. When you cut corners, you're only hurting yourself. When you succeed, you're the only one that gets the benefit.

It's hard to express those sort of sentiments - you kind of have to get out there and do it for yourself to really know.

But - for those of you who have the laptop open and your feet up, I'll try to put it into nice bullet points for your reading enjoyment before you get distracted by porn, TMZ or funnyordie.com.

1) I run because it clears my head
- It's true... running (or any exercise) releases endorphins. You can't help but feel good, even when you're puking on your shoes or your shorts have chaffed smoking red marks into your crotchal region. Seriously, though, it's a tremendous stress reliever... when I'm out there, I can pray, all of the day's stress just falls away and I can breathe again.

2) I run to challenge myself.
- I have life goals... some of them are big and will take years. Others, like some of the trips I want to take, require money. Running takes only a decent pair of shoes and the will to do it. Running a marathon was, at the same time, both the easiest and hardest goal I've ever set for myself. It was easy, because all I had to do was get out there and do it - the way was already set and planned for me. But when you're in that marathon, you've passed mile 19, you're coming up on four hours on the road and your legs feel like rubber pencils set on fire, that finish line may as well be 8,000 miles away.
But, on that final sprint to the end, where your feet don't touch the dusty ground because that last rush of adrenaline has picked you up and is carrying you towards the cheers of your loved ones, it goes back to being the easiest thing you've ever done. And that's a great feeling... in fact, that's reason number three!

3) I run for the feeling of the finish.
- Whether it's finishing the last stretch of a three-mile training run strong or the overwhelming rush of finishing your first marathon, that fullness of joy, that primal sense of accomplishment is a high unlike any other.
I can't even describe it. You just have to go out and do it for yourself.

4) I run for my health.
- Want to lose 10 pounds? Train for a long-distance race. 'nuff said.

5) I run because you don't.
- The "you" here doesn't mean "you, my reader," just some schmuck out there who's too lazy or out-of-shape to be able to do what I can do. Maybe it's a guy thing, but I take pride in doing it. I love passing people on the road. I like the challenge of keeping up with a stronger runner and I like out-distancing someone trying to keep up with me even better. Even a kid like me that's 5'7" and 155 pounds can be a beast when he puts on that running gear, grabs a water bottle and heads out the door to chew up the road and spit it out.

So, that, my friends is why I do it.

Want to come run with me?