I lost a glove on my long run last weekend. This wasn’t just any glove though. It was half of my favorite pair of gloves. A pair that I’ve had for almost as long as I’ve been running. It’s a cheap pair of red Nike branded gloves in some cotton/polyester blend that I picked up from Walmart back in the day. They’re a little on the big side, but they do an amazing job of keeping my hands warm from 45 degrees all the way down to about 20.
My long run was in about the most miserable conditions imaginable. A steady rain greeted my first steps out of the house, which continued right up until it changed over to a wintry mix two hours later. The temperatures dropped steadily from the low 40s down to freezing over the course of my run. Eventually, I decided it was time to swap out my red Nike gloves for a backup pair that I brought along. I stuffed them into my short pockets and then finished up my run.
It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I was short one glove. I was already a little discouraged from the exceptionally slow pace of my long run (legs have been thrashed recently) and this just sent me into a mental tailspin. What was I going to do at Greenbrier in 2 weeks? How was I going to keep my hands warm? Could I find a replacement pair in time? What was I going to do?
Step one was to see if I could find the lost glove.
I swapped out gloves 4.5 miles from my house so the amount of road to check was somewhat limited. There were 2 likely spots where it could have fallen out. The first being when I tried to stuff them into my shorts with frozen fingers and the second when I used the little boys tree about 2 miles further along.
So on my run Sunday, I retraced my steps out to the second spot. All the way out to it – I’m looking left, I’m looking right. Nothing. I get to where I think I dropped it and . . . nothing. Zip, zilch, nada.
Later that morning, I hopped in my truck and drove out to the second spot where I may have dropped it. Along the way, I was driving slowly and scanning for my glove. I stopped once on the way out there, but it ended up being just a stick. Yes, a brown stick looked like it may have been a red glove. I’m color blind so sue me. And then about a half mile from where I thought I had dropped it, what do my eyes behold?
And there it was. While I was a little surprised that I was able to find my glove, I was even more shocked to find out how much joy the discovery provided me. I mean, it’s just a glove. And a cheap one at that. It’s not like I found something precious. The weird thing is I’d have been less happy if I had stumbled upon a 100 bill there instead of a very well used glove that was flatter than the last time I’d seen it.
But that glove and I have gone through a lot together. It’s one of the more dependable bits of gear that I own. I’m not saying I would have dropped out of Greenbrier if I hadn’t found it. I am saying I can sleep a little easier knowing I have my glove situation well in hand.