One of Those

 Red crowned white breasted

Black winged woodpecker knock, knocks,

Knock, knock….knock, knock,
knocks.

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

 A few years ago when I was trying to decide if I could make it to work on time if I ran in the Pier to Peak half marathon in Santa Barbara, I looked at the time of the age group winner and figured I’d be all right. But my wife interjected what if he was one of those special athletes that defies aging implying that I shouldn’t be so self-assured and give myself a larger margin for error.

That hurt. What if I was one of those special athletes? Apparently at the time, she didn’t think so. 

Well, at the Ventura Turkey trot I met one of those special athletes, Brian Nelson. It’s like in track and field if you asked who won the 400 meter hurdles when Edwin Moses was in his prime, or more recently, Usain Bolt in the 100. At the race in Ventura I asked a fellow age grouper how he thought we did and he said, well, Brian Nelson was in the race. Pretty much means the rest of us were vying for 2^nd.

So now I know in Southern California in races 5k or less, I am not “one of those”.

Maybe I can still be “one of those” in longer events, or in trail races, but I don’t feel like I’m there yet and I’ve never experienced the feeling that anyone is telling anybody forget about it, Michael’s in the race.