OWL-DRAGON

15 Degrees. That's what the outside thermometer said. I was tempted to make some excuses and climb back in bed but I had committed to a two hour run and knew that later wouldn't work.

So on went the layers and when I got out and moving it didn't feel all that bad. The winds were momentarily quiet and I think that helped.

Rockin' Ron Cade was playing Elvis B-sides. Some of you youngin's may not be familiar with B sides. In the days of vinyl, records came in three speeds - 78, 45, and 33. Now 78's were even before my time but 45s ruled the 50's and into the 60's. 45s were the smaller records with the large round hole (kind of looked like the winter Olympic medals). The record companies would put an expected hit out on the A side and a lesser song on the B side. Now Elvis (being Elvis) was the king of the B side. A lot of his B sides were hits (Hound Dog was a B side). But even the lesser known ones are a lot of fun. It was the kind of thing I wish radio would do more often rather than play a short playlist over and over.

Well I got to thinking about B sides. I think we all would enjoy running and life in general if we remembered that it's great to have a strong A side (an age group win or a PR) but let's not throw away the B sides. The B side might be nothing more than having a good time and having fun with the race. It might be celebrating a friend's great race. It might be might an injured runner volunteering at a race or sharing lessons learned with a newbie.

Let's not let those B sides slip away.

P.S. anybody know the A side of Hound Dog? It’s a good one.