Ready...Set...Train!

We’re less than four months from Day 1 of the 2008 Twin Cities 3-Day – 121 days, to be exact. Today was a beautiful day – clear blue skies, slight breeze, the sun shining high in the sky. I took my new shoes out for the first training walk. Yes, I said “training walk”. There’s no more denying the fact that my training has begun.

I walked through my neighborhood, as I often do, although I added a couple of legs onto my usual route, increasing distance and including a slight hill (or two). I took note of the trees, with their leaves unfolding, the gradual explosion into a green canopy over houses and streets and sidewalks. I looked at the deepening color of my neighbors’ lawns and wondered if Mother Nature will keep them that way throughout the summer or will the owners be forced to pour gallon after gallon of water on them in order to maintain health and vigor. Will I be one of those owners who think green grass is more important than my city’s resources, regardless of cost?

I stopped at an intersection to stretch and thought about how many times I’ll be leaning on a fence or a telephone pole during the course of my training. I watched cars pass by on the road and thought of how some of those same cars will be honking for all of us on the 3-Day.

I walked by a gas station and saw the latest price of $3.85 per gallon – and I decided I didn’t care whether it goes to $4…or $5 or $10 or $100. It’s just another thing that television news thinks is important – so important that our entire civilization could crumble into dust at any moment and be carried away with the wind. Perhaps one day it will be cable TV news and talk radio and bloggers pontificating on the latest death knell, who will lie on the ash heap of history, along with communism, smallpox, and eight-track tapes. I smiled at the prospect of such a world.

I walked the final two blocks toward my house, passing the homes of my neighbors, whom I’ve come to know so well. Kevin stood in his driveway and called out, “At it again, Scotty?”

Yep, I’m at it again.


Scott's Official 3-Day Countdown: 121 Days until Day 1