Yesterday it was 52 degrees at lunch time.

I knew this warm up was coming so I bumped my training cycle by a day. Because of the warmth and melting snow we had some insane fog rolling through, so I rocked my reflective vest. I’m so glad I found one that doesn’t bounce around and is definitely visible. Did I feel like a dweeb for wearing it at 11:45 in the morning? Yes. But I felt like a safe dweeb who wasn’t going to be run over by a truck. And that feeling is better than feeling cool. Though just by a smidge. On the recommendation o a coach, I’ve stepped back in my training. This will push off my half marathon, but it’s allowed for running to be fun again, and not a chore with every run. I’m still doing running/walking intervals and as I came to the end of my first running interval, I ran into this guy.

 This turkey routinely chases runners. He did not disappoint and after passing him, he turned abruptly and started trotting towards me gobbling. I crossed my fingers he was just threatened and slowed down giving him a wide berth. He slowed his trot but kept moving towards me. I finally got some distance between us and snapped the picture (it’s what I do, take pictures of everything) Then crossed the 4 lane road I was running along and put a little more distance between us. The rest of the run was fairly uneventful and wrapped up strong. I dashed back into the fitness center to take a quick rinse shower and noticed my legs and newish sneakers for the first time.

This is what you get from mud puddles thanks to a brief warm up that won’t last long enough for true enjoyment and is really a tease as we enter the third phase of winter (phase 1 was “oh, the cold weather is nice. Sweaters! Boots! Christmas snow!” Phase 2 is “Holidays are over. It’s just dark all day. I just want to hibernate. Winter is never going to end”.) Phase 3 now is “There’s more sun in the evenings. But it’s still bleeping cold. And the ground has had ice or snow on it for 8 weeks. I would love to go somewhere and not require 8 layers of clothing”. Phase 4 hits the first week of March. It goes like this “Winter won’t die. We have more sunshine but all it does is highlight how little color there is in my life. This is also when stuff melts during the day and freezes at night so it’s particularly perilous for runners. Then again when you fall your first thought is ow quickly followed by well, at least the blood adds some color to this dreary world“.

Anyways. Back to freezing temps this weekend. Was nice to enjoy some warmth yesterday. Very much looking forward to real spring.

Hearts and warm temps!