Rio

The title cut of the new Buffett album got stuck in my head this morning: everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you.

It was stuck there for two reasons: the first being that's the CD in my car right now and because I ran 2.35 miles in the pouring rain this morning.

The kids needed a ride to school and I'm figuring, I'm in the car, why not drive to Heartbreak hill and do my miles there this morning? Just as we got ready to leave the house, it began to rain. "But," I think, "I like running in the rain."

Of course the last time I ran in the rain, it was during a heat wave and not in the low 40 degree temps of November. Let's just say that after this morning I realized one more thing to add to my wish list: a goretex rain jacket for running.

The surrealness of the weather lead to an interesting run - one of those ones where you leave your body periodically because you start thinking about something and next thing you know, you look up and think, "Where the hell am I?"

This was particularly unnerving as I revised my running plans from a 5 miler to 2 miles because of the weather and realized I was at the Kosher strip mall - well past the 1 mile marker of Centre Street.

What was unnerving was somehow I ran through a major intersection without noting I was running through a major intersection. My body may have been in Newton, but my mind, apparently, was somewhere over Rio.

Coming down the hill I was a little more aware of the intersection but my mind kept traveling to exotic locales - the old city in Jerusaleum when I saw the Orthodox school kids waiting for the bus, the Plaza del Vecchio when I could smell Italian spices in the air and, of course, Rio just for fun.

Just as I got to the corner of Walnut Street, I decided to punt the last 1/4 mile and head straight for the car. I was starting to get cold and I was soaked so the thought of a heater and shelter seemed good. I listened to the rest of the Buffett CD as I drove home. I probably would have stopped for coffee if I had brought my wallet - instead I came home, showered and ate an English muffin.

Of course, just because the surreal nature of the run was still with me, I began to wonder why was it that I couldn't wait to come home and peel off my wet clothes so I could hop in the shower? Since one surreal moment deserved to linger, I dug up some Mike Nesmith stuff to listen to while I worked today. Not surprisingly, the song "Rio" popped up.

I think I need to pull up a bunch of songs with "Rio" in the title... Nesmith, Duran Duran, that 70's band that did the song "I Go to Rio" - I'm sure there are a ton of them out there.

In the meantime, I probably won't go to Rio - but then again I just might. If I do, I guess I'll take the weather with me... and my running shoes.