Fake Fall

Running makes you more invested in the weather. Nonrunners can stay inside when the weather turns ugly. But runners must deal with the elements, leading them to complain incessantly about the heat, the humidity, the wind chill, the rain, the snow. We runners are like the Goldilocks of weather: too hot! too cold! But fall is the Baby Bear of seasons: just right.

Fall is ideal running season. When there is a crisp chill to it, you can almost smell cross country in the air. There’s a reason there are more marathons in the fall than the spring. After months of hard training through hot summer days, you can feel the change of seasons and sense your hard work is about to pay off: it’s racing season!

I love fall. I love the trees changing colors and being able to wear sweaters and jackets again. I love all things pumpkin flavored: bread, beer, tea, cookies. I love that it always has a feeling of a fresh start, a newness, born from years of back-to-school routines. I love the holidays that come one after another, each with different things to celebrate (and different treats to eat!) And of course, I love running, ideally in shorts and a long sleeved T-shirt.

In DC, this past week has felt like fall. Granted, it’s still August, but the mornings have been cooler and it’s enough to trick you, is it fall? I find myself noticing stray leaves crumpling under my feet. They are old, dead leaves, leftover from summer storms, but in my mind they are orange and red, freshly fallen off autumn trees. Kids are back in school, football is starting... well, preseason football. People are running in long sleeves. (Seriously!) Ok, I’m excited too, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 

Of course it’s not yet fall. Stores aren’t even touting their pumpkin flavored treats yet, and stores’ schedules are ahead of everyone else’s. Soon it will go back to normal late summer heat and humidity, but until then I’ll enjoy my fake fall and dream of happier times. My long sleeved T-shirts are ready and waiting.

Dream big and dream of fall,
Teal