Summer Sprinklers

It's the summer, and for me the summer includes running numerous miles preparing for the upcoming cross country season. July is hot, and earlier this month I suffered my first dehydration stint of the year, faltering in the 95-degree (and higher) temperatures and subsequently loading myself with fluids throughout those days. I've been much more cautious and in tune with hydration than I was last summer, but when the temperature hits a certain degree (93?), it engulfs me and tells my body to stop going. I do my best to avoid those sizzling times, such as cooler morning runs and beautiful evening runs.

Thanks to my awesome Dad, I sweat bullets on runs, and losing water quickly doesn't help in these sticky situations either. My Dad is phenomenal, and I will stop complaining about dehydration. I despise it though. If you're a runner, I'm sure you've experienced depleted times before.

While the summer calls for warmer weather and hostile sunshine, it also calls all sprinklers. Being a runner, sprinklers are close to my heart. On one of those previously mentioned days when my body faced a shortage of strength and energy, I remember catching sight of a sprinkler in the area up ahead. With each soak-ridden step I chugged towards the sprinkler in anticipation.

When I arrived at the spouts spitting water, I took advantage of the opportunity to immerse myself in the streams. Although the sprinkler didn't cure my dehydration, I can look back and thank it for assisting me as much as it could.

There have been plenty of runs this summer where I'm feeling great and I still see sprinklers. It's not just on scorching hot days that the sprinklers make their appearances. I still cruise right through them even if it's cooler or I'm feeling fine, because I feel like they are secretly looking out for runners everywhere, giving people encouragement to go the extra mile. I have a friendship with all sprinklers.

This also reminds me of genuine, person-to-person friendships that we live out every day. While the sprinklers on those hot and humid days didn't completely relieve me of my dehydration, they still offered help and put a smile on my face when I came near them.

It's like in life, when you're feeling discouraged or tired, and you need that one uplifting comment or even a quick visit from a close friend to make things better. Even if the comment or visit didn't totally lift your spirits, you know that it was still awesome to see that your friend was there willing to help.

Sprinklers can be there for runners, and we can be there for each other. Do your best to make someone close to you feel special today.

Let peace fly high,

James Waldon Rogers