Preseason, day 1

The women ran at Vassar Farm. The men had their usual Mills Hills workout in Staatsburg. Vans and cars had sweaty seats in the late morning, as the dewpoint reached Florida-in-the-summer levels. Gatorade coolers were filled. There was energy. There was enthusiasm. Preseason cross country has begun. So many signs of normalcy, hope from the new faces, the sort-of new faces and the athletes that have been around here for a long time too. Yes, we wore masks in the vans and cars. Yes, we scrambled for our face coverings as we entered buildings. There was a first team lift. There was a wrong turn on the way to Mills (of course!). There was a problem with our IDs entering the dining hall – again! Yes, all in a day of preseason that steers its course back to normalcy. And then! A text from my son in the late afternoon telling me that the Air Force Marathon – a race in about four weeks in Ohio, for which he was training – was shuttered due to Covid concerns, that was a cold-water-to-the-face wakeup call that we are still living this and breathing this. Even while we plan for an as-normal-as-possible Day 2.