i am not a whiner.

...but it's a constant struggle to keep it that way. today it started raining at mile 6.5. I was wearing a mid-weight wool top and knickers and that's it, and when the rain came, the north wind kicked up. Then it hailed a little. At promontory point I had planned to do a 180 and run back home the way I came, but it was really clear that it was too cold, windy, and rainy for that to work. I crossed under LSD into the 'hood and seriously considered calling Ben for a rescue. I was freezing, soaking, miserable.

But there I was in Hyde Park, not knowing any way to get home except via the path, but the wind wasn't quite so bad in the neighborhood, and I had no way to call Ben anyway, and I'd never abandoned a run before, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I just started snaking my way home, not knowing which way would make sense, but just going. I ran through some dicey areas. I was still cold, but around mile 13 it stopped raining and the sky lightened a little. The wind eased off. I kept running, still wet.

The hardest thing was to get over it- to forget about the hail and wind and cold. Even when things got better I was still thinking about what I'd been through, and I needed to just forget it and keep going. I was ok to finish the run, and I did, it was just pretty miserable because I kept thinking about those cold wet miles.

Whatever, it's just a run. 17.6. When I got home I had tasty new recovery beverage and Ben drew me a hot bath and lit probably a dozen candles in the bathroom. Love.

this is not a weather report.

I've always told myself i won't report the weather on my blog. "Gosh, it's nice out, so I'm going for a run/ride/squirrel hunting bout." Nope. Instead, I will subject you (or you will subject yourself, since you are reading this out of freewill, unless something has gone terribly wrong) to a tidy list of things that would make today nicer:
1. Margarita.
2. Balcony.
3. A few more hours of sleep, preferably gleaned in the afternoon in a sunny corner.
4. More jokes that involve Barry Wicks.
5. Ben's cold's departure.
6. Molly's broken leg's departure.
7. A full-time assistant to handle all the details.
8. Sunblock.
9. A good reason to need sunblock.
10. That dream job as a travel writer.

As a bonus, for you, my dedicated reader who made it through that grueling list, here are things that will make tomorrow nicer:
1. Enough bodyglide to cover every inch of my skin.
2. A superfast superlight windproof umbrella.
3. A same-day-return roundtrip ticket to somewhere that it's not raining.

forcing spring.

I ran in shortsleeves and shortpants (aka knickers, but I can't help but think of that kind) today. It was a little too cold for it, but it just felt so good, I couldn't help it. The IU campus is hilly, probably the hilliest run I've done, and my gizmo didn't find me till a bit into the run and I got turned around once (see, right there.) I also take back what I said to some folks last night about it being lovely- the part that's lovely happens to be where I'm sitting, but the fringes are just as ugly as Wisconsin's 50's buildings, only more rural-feeling. There are also far more frat/sorority houses. (I laughed when, after running by all the fancy cars parked in the lots of the Greek houses - which are on campus here! - I saw a house with normal working people cars in it. I figured that's the boys I would date. Then I saw it was the Evans Scholars house- guys who got scholarships from caddying. Yeah.)

Last night I was dazzled to see Ethiopian food available in little Bloomington, but when I walked in the restaurant's door, the host asked if I was there for Italian or Ethiopian. WHAT? This wasn't going to be good. They sat me next to the only other occupied table in the place - a couple of mormon grad students on an awkward first date - and explained that service might be slow since the young white guy who was the only server was also the cook. Ugh. Yeah. You can imagine how the rest turned out. It was fun watching that couple do an odd verbal dance around who should pay the bill, or if they should split it.

We went to a bar called Nick's last night, which I'll liken to the student union at Madison - or maybe the Plaza? - but they asked me for 2 forms of ID to get in. I haven't been asked for a second form since I was 19 and happily handed over my big sister's ID and credit card.