This morning I decided that it had warmed up enough for a run in the great outdoors. (I've been doing my running inside UB's capacious gymnasium.)

It turns out I was wrong about it being warm enough; while my core was toasty and my extremities were managing, my lungs became deeply unhappy. I was still hacking up phlegm three hours later.

I didn't write this post just to talk about phlegm, as fascinating as that subject is. No, I wrote this to mention people honking.

I went running from my apartment away from the University, into a residential district. I stayed on the main drag, because it had good sidewalks, plus this time I didn't want to get lost on the identical-looking narrow residential streets in the area.

So I'm running along, it's only been three minutes and already my chest hurts from the cold; cars are whizzing by, and someone honks and waves. I look up and wave back; I can't see who was in the car, but it's probably a friend of mine, driving to a Saturday breakfast somewhere.

A few more cars pass, and someone honks again. I didn't know that there were so many people I knew in this neighborhood, but I wave again. Then a third person honks and waves. This is getting strange, because even if my friends did live in this area, not many of them would be out driving on Saturday morning. Then I came up with a theory- it's all about my clothing.

This time of year in Buffalo, you need warm clothing to excercise outdoors. Many people go running in slick form-fitting breathable lycra. It looks comfy, but I don't own any. I work out in my USMC-issue green sweatsuit. Which is, as I just said, distinctly green, and also has visible "USMC" logos. I'm used to running the streets of military towns, where such a thing is unremarkable. But Buffalo is a long way from the ocean and the Marines. I wonder whether people were honking in a "Support the troops!" sort of reflex.

Thinking that made me feel guilty, too, since (a) I'm no longer actively serving, and (b) while conducting PT wearing issue sweats is authorized, you are supposed to be within the grooming regs to do so; and my current facial hair is pretty much as un-regulation as possible.

But I'm not about to go off and buy a hundred bucks worth of fancy lycra running tights, nor do I wish to shave off my beard, so I guess I'll keep running in the USMC sweats, and I'll hope that the Commandant doesn't go driving past and snatch me up for being out of regs.

Posted by: Boviate at 11:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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