Boy Scout Running

A series of comical circumstances forced Shannan to be in Columbus, GA, on a recent Saturday. We decided to make the best of the situation and stay for the weekend. We count ourselves as seasoned travelers, so we didn’t even make a packing list to get ready for the impromptu trip.

All went perfectly according to plan. Late Saturday afternoon I set out my running gear for the next morning. That’s when I realized I had failed to bring running shorts. Oh, the shame! So I’m not the traveler extraordinaire I thought. No need to panic, though, as at Shannan’s suggestion I have a fully-equipped emergency running bag in all of our vehicles.

Pre-dawn morning arrived and I quietly readied myself for a nice run in Columbus. I stepped outside to a chilly temperature in the low forties with a slight wind. I wasn’t mentally prepared for that, not to mention that I wasn’t physically prepared with gloves. I decided to warm up with a cup of coffee (bad practice) and let the sun come up in hopes of the temperature increasing with it.

Thirty minutes passed as I bemoaned my woefully inadequate planning for the trip. Finally, I cowboyed up and ran for about an hour. I came back to the hotel room and whined about my freezing and slightly numb fingers and hands. Shannan showed no sympathy. I took an important lesson away from this mess. If I’m not going to pack more thoroughly, then I need to add more items to my emergency bags.

Run like a Boy Scout.

Tom