Taper Time

This week's running schedule is pretty light, as we're less than 2 weeks away from the Gator Trail 50k. Amazing that it is now the middle of March, and time for the 50k. Where did the winter go? When we signed up for this race, it seemed ages away, and now it is almost time... I'm hoping for a good race, but I'm also expecting it to hurt. A recent article by Matt Fitzgerald on competitor.com talked about why sometimes it is best to expect the worst when racing. It's an interesting read, and definitely something to think about. I am anticipating the pain, and looking forward to how I handle it. I'm hoping I can put into action the following:

Expect every race to hurt like hell and you will race better. - Matt Fitzgerald

Hopefully the weather will not add to the hurt. Think moderate temps and clear skies for us, please!! :-)

Although we are soon headed south where I know it will be a fair amount warmer, spring is certainly in the air here. The days has been warm, with lots of melting, there's more daylight (hurray!) and Ronnie the cat is desperately sniffing at the door, trying to escape into the outdoors. He seems to do this every spring. I haven't seen any red-winged blackbirds yet, but the grackles are back chattering away out front, and our reduced hours at the gallery are coming to an end. And the trails are certainly in the transition phase too, moving from winter to summer conditions slowly and variably, but without a doubt.

I went out this morning for a 5 mile run while my parents watched Sam. I wasn't feeling super enthused, as I'm still trying to rid myself of the remnants of a cold and I didn't have much sleep last night between the time change and Sam teething. But, as I headed out the sun began to peek through the clouds, and I ended up enjoying my random route on the trails and roads around Highland Green, even if I didn't feel very energetic. I came back on the section of snowmobile trail between the high school and Highland Green Road, just to check things out. The trail conditions were much different than just a few days ago, with the snow bridge at the bottom of the first hill showing two big holes and the stream bed much cleared than it had been. The junipers atop the hill had freed themselves from the snow, and the dirt roads around the back of Highland Green were now all mud and no ice. Spring is on its way.

And speaking of change, here are a few photos of our constantly changing and growing little munchkin. She is getting bigger every day, and amazes us with all her words and her cute actions. She certainly is a character :-)

Cute

Headed out for lunch

Enjoying a spring afternoon walk with Nanie and Pip