Brrr It's Too Cold to Run

My UnderArmour Beanie

I will be your friend to the end but I am a fair weather runner all day all year.  I don't have anything to prove to run a marathon (26.2 miles) in extremely hot weather, rain, or below freezing conditions. Call me a bit of a prima donna if you like but that does not matter to me because I have been delivered from other's opinions of me for years. I digress....Not knowing the weather this morning I stepped out of my hotel at 6am ready to get in a run and brrr.

I felt the chill that I felt in my bones in the first mile of the Suntrust marathon in D.C. two years ago in March where it was 26 degrees F at the start and 38 degrees F at my finish.  I ran with gloves the entire length and never warmed up and I promised I would not do that again. So I kept the promise to myself...I went back to the hotel after 6 miles and completed 6 miles on the treadmill followed by some weight training. 

Do I feel defeated or less accomplished?  No not at all, a lot wiser to know that it just isn't that deep for me to be cold in my extracurricular time. So next outdoor run in the winter - South Beach before 8am.  Oh because then I would be blogging that it would be too hot. 

A Win for Destiny

Now that I am leaving the Big Easy, here are eight reasons the Ravens win was so special inside the Superdome that housed Katrina victims years ago: 

1. Three 75+ yr women walked out of the bathroom behind me and started telling me they cried when Ray Lewis announced his retirement because they did not know what Baltimore would do without his generosity to the children and senior citizens community. I assured him that I thought he would still be a pillar in the community. Tears starting forming in their eyes as two said "I hope so baby".
2. In the Superdome store, four women that reminded me of my aunt and grandmother asked me to help them pick out some souvenirs. Oh yeah, two of them had walking canes and said they would never miss this moment. They saved for this day.
3. In a sea of red of 49ers fans of which it was nothing to pay for the high priced tickets (and they wore that arrogance too), Ravens fans were a pretty humble bunch that reminded me of my family (personal and extended church) and middle class hard working Americans. 
4. When the lights at the top of the dome went out on the 49ers side only (no there was no blackout), Ravens fans were proclaiming that it was the trick of the devil to change the momentum of the game and get the Ravens off-course. (And we know that happens in real life!) 
5. When the momentum of the game shifted towards the 49ers, I stood up and tuned everything out and started professing quietly, "God, you did not put everything in order for me to get here to see a Ravens loss and Ray not get another ring.  This was ordained. This trip is about how you are going to come through for me too.  This is about the testimony I am going to have when this trial is over." 
6. While the 49ers fans were cheering loudly at the end of the game, the Ravens fans in the three sections next to us were quiet on the last defensive play and put one hand up and said "no weapon formed". 
7. The emotions - The tears some of the Ravens fans and me too wiped away at 5 seconds to the end of the game. The cheer when Ray Lewis said "What God has for you!". The cry out that Torrey Smith did for his brother Tevin when he ran through our section. The tears rolling from Michael's adopted parents. The kisses to the crowd from the player's moms before going in the tunnel as she said "Thanks for the years supporting my baby!"
8. And the excitement of Ray's win after a torn tricep was supposed to put him out for the season and all the HATERS that tried to tear down his spirit but he kept believing.

So shout out to the Ravens fans and may Baltimore celebrate harder than ever because this was another win for destiny - something I needed to witness as my change is coming!