The post-run shower: it’s sooooo good.
December 9, 2010When the alarm on my phone went off this morning the weather on the display said it was 24 degrees. Twenty-four. Fahrenheit. I pulled myself out of the soft, warm bed and stumbled around the bedroom grabbing at the layers of running clothes I laid out last night. I headed out the door shortly after I drank my cup of warm water, heading to meet one of my morning run buddies, Divo. After a brisk loop of the park I headed home with one thought in mind: shower.
The post-run shower is one of my favorite (possibly only, but just go with it) perks of winter running. There is just something about coming in from a run all red-faced and and bundled up, then stripping down and stepping into warm shower. There is that moment when the water first hits the still-cold skin that sends a shiver down my neck, tingling all the way to my feet and giving me a rush of instant warmth. Oh, reader, it’s goooooood.
This morning after I had shampooed, conditioned, lathered, and rinsed, I lingered in the shower. Lingering is a regular part of my winter shower, not just because the water feels good but also because I know as soon as I pull back the shower curtain I will be assaulted with a blast of arctic air that temporarily negates the warm comfort of the post-run shower. I must have lingered longer than usual because S actually came in and asked if I was ok in there (I’m guessing he just wanted to take his own post-run shower and was faking concern to get me to hurry up. Fair play, S.). I told him I was, but that I had decided to spend the rest of the morning in the shower. He laughed disbelievingly until I started singing my shower song. The shower song is a something I wrote to capture my feelings about the post-run shower and my seriousness when I say I might not get out:
“I don’t want to get out of the showwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeerrrrrrr,
I don’t want to get out of the shower todayyyyyyy.
I don’t want to get out of the showwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr,
So don’t make me get out todayyyyyyyyyyy.”
(You really have to imagine this being “sung” in a key that is unidentifiable to any other member of the human race and at the top of my lungs. It’s really more yelling than singing.) Yes, I really sing that. Out loud. In front of another person. And he still likes me. 
I managed to work up the nerve to step out into the chilled bathroom a few minutes later so S could hop in. He didn’t seem to appreciate the post-run shower the way I did, as I couldn’t get him to sing the shower song. Or maybe it was still early and there isn’t enough caffeine in Brooklyn to get him singing before 9am. Either way, I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s run!
