The Great Outdoors

While I'm just waiting for the demise of this Twilight Zone-ishly beautiful summer weather we're having in the middle of March, I'm still confident that outdoor running season has commenced (barring the 6 feet of snow we'll get smacked with on April first, I'm sure). Last weekend I went on one of my longer outdoor runs in the surrounding neighborhoods. I didn't intend it to be as long as it was, but whoever planned out the neighborhood streets around here must have been drunk at the time because they are anything but straight. I ended up literally running in a circle through a subdivision I had intended to just cut across.

6 miles and it felt good, but tiring. The addition of hills and pounding pavement added some stress to the body. I've found myself in a slump again this week, not feeling energized enough to run more than a few miles, even in this heavenly weather.

Speaking of the heavenly weather, there's nothing like 70's/80's and incredible sunshine to lift the winter blues. I'm channeling the recent Office episode where Toby pleaded sympathy for his severe case of seasonal depression, and Andy and Dwight mocked him, saying: "Right, Toby. As if everyone isn't experiencing the same winter as you." I'm with Toby; I'm an honest-to-goodness victim of the winter blues who just views the world in a slightly sunnier way when it's...sunnier. Considering the especially miserable winter I went into this year, and the healing passage of time leading into spring, it's all chocking up to be a fantastic time to be alive.

Song of Solomon 2:11 For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. ¹² ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land...":