The Joys of Winter Running

I did 6.75 miles yesterday in the cold, and I will admit, the masochist in me rather enjoyed it. The temps were in the 20's, but with wind chill it was more like teens-ish... And since I lived in the south for the last 2 years, it was rather a shock to the system. :O However, I quickly acclimated to it, which is easy to do when it's not windy. And bundled up with a furry hat. The miles at first went by slowly, but then accelerated at a speedy clip. The scenery was great, and I saw fellow nutzos out there (including one runner who was wearing shorts!). Sometimes I just get into a really good zone on my jogs, and roll with it; yesterday was a fabulous illustration of that occurrence. I'm one of those folks who are successful at achieving Zen through running, and not yoga. Some of you will know what I'm talking about reading this!

Anyways, yesterday's workout had some speedy segments thrown in for good measure, but it was overall a pretty conservative effort. I can't believe how racing can impact you even a week afterward. I'm still feeling a wee bit tired, and my legs aren't quite fresh yet. Granted, I did a freakin' marathon, so I know it's exhausting business, but it's still a little jarring to feel the way I do right now.

Hope I'll be able to squeeze in some good runs while I'm in the northeast during the holidays. It'll be a great stress reliever, not to mention penance for eating all those cookies, and drinking all those hot chocolates with Baileys.

Winter (Finally) Comes to Central Texas

This past winter has been a strange one in a lot of places. For starters, much of the South has been blanketed by snow (even parts of Florida!), and it finally hit central Texas today.

As much as I kvetch about snow, it was really cool seeing it after over a year...Actually, make that 2 years. The last time I saw the powdery stuff was in New Jersey, winter 2008. It seems like eons ago, even though it's only been 24 months between now and then.

I wound up not doing the 45-minute tempo run that's on my training schedule. Instead, I walked and took pictures... Very soothing for the soul, and a rare treat for me.