Sun Run and Sunnier Climate

The Sun Run yesterday was almost fun. It’s always great to see happy people. But after being shoved by a guy passing me on the left–and hitting my bad shoulder and arm–I was pretty sore and ended up walking some. It was also quite warm, and even Morgan said he walked a little. I was also kind of dehydrated due to a cold. I honestly felt so plastered and bad later that I took today off, and my entire body hurts and my brain feels foggy. I think it’s a combo of several things and a touch of a flu bug. I am looking forward to trail running now and am not sure I care to keep participating in crowded races. I much prefer the quiet, the nature, the solitude rather than thousands of people (over 43,000 yesterday). I am not competitive, am a fairly slow runner, and just perform better when I’m not having to play obstacle course with folks or being shoved and hurt. I’m really not complaining. I’m sure the guy who ran into me didn’t mean to, and there’s no way he could have known I have a bad shoulder!

I coddled myself post-race by lounging in the hammock, with gentle breezes and a bright sun overhead. The weather here is currently above normal (high 20s during the day–that’s in the upper 70s) and very sunny, though next weekend should be rainy. This is more like July weather, though I have to remind myself that last summer was in the 30s (upper 90s, over 100) for weeks. Morgan and I just took out a bunch of compost bags to the curb before I sat down to write, and the moon was out and it felt like a balmy summer night. Breathtakingly beautiful and even smelled good. I ended up replanting all my herbs and planting the other seeds I got: pole beans, leaf lettuce, poblano peppers, green peppers, onions, turnips, cauliflower, pumpkins, and some wildflowers on Saturday. Just perfect timing for that, given this summer-like weather.

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My hammock view. Post-race mesmerization.

Anyway, I know single weather events don’t mean the same thing as climate change, but they do equate to symptoms of climate change, and I feel we’re in for another year of high temperatures. Today there was massive flooding in Texas today as well. I think it’s very safe to say that we’re living through climate change now–not the slow, natural change we’ve experienced during the ages but the changes we’ve seen escalate since the past few decades. We’re seeing the effects. I read an article today about Miami Beach, and Florida in general, waking up to climate change. Beach cities like Miami Beach are slowly disappearing under water, and bigger high tides are flooding streets and what The Guardian described as beautiful Art Deco buildings. Miami Beach’s foundation is limestone, which is very porous and allows rising waters to seep into building foundations, saturating them. The article also talks about the risks of rising seas reaching fresh water wetlands.

I think I’m getting to the point that I have lived long enough to see a very large number of environmental and technical changes that affect our society. Sadly, I feel like I’ve also lived long enough that my body doesn’t want to always cooperate with running! However, there’s nothing else to do but keep trying to overcome obstacles. I dunno. When I was younger and living in the Chicago area, everybody and their neighbor went to Florida for spring break…sometimes Mexico, but mostly Florida. Florida was like this beautiful place that you would envy other people for visiting. Our family went a few times, but only because my dad’s sister lived there. Now it’s just not the same.

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