Goodbye, Oval

Today was the last day of ice at the John Rose Oval for the 2011-12 season.  We had metric sprint races; I did the 100, 300, 500, and 1000.  No spectacular times (you know how I love sprints!), but the weather was great and it was a fun morning. And, I'm finding that the end of the season gives me the desire to wax poetic.  Since my only claim to poetry fame is having memorized more limericks than anyone else on the women's rugby team in college, don't expect much--but here's "Goodbye Oval" (with apologies to "Goodnight Moon," Dr. Seuss, and anyone else I might be inadvertently channeling).

Goodbye Oval

Goodbye, John Rose Oval

The season was fun

And now let me list

My goodbyes one-by-one

Goodbye winter weather

Bye ice, rain and snow

Goodbye rare calm days

Goodbye winds that blow

Goodbye frozen toes

That pain us a lot

Goodbye frosted lashes

Goodbye dripping snot

Goodbye Gore-tex jackets

Goodbye dorky glasses

Goodbye Nike Swiftskins

Stretched over our...glutes

Goodbye boots and blades

Goodbye sharpening stones

Goodbye painted lane lines

Goodbye starting cones

Goodbye weeknight workouts

With laps slow and fast

Goodbye Masters men

The draft was a blast!

Goodbye hockey players

Goodbye errant puck

(Get out of my lane!  

OMG!!  WTF?!)

Goodbye weekend races

Both metric and pack

(It's metric I love;

It's pack skills I lack)

Goodbye fellow racers

"Enduros" and sprinters

Goodbye wooden benches 

With butt-piercing splinters

Goodbye winter beauty

By night

and by day

Goodbye John Rose Oval

The best place to play!