Patience; the new endurance sport.

I set foot on the driveway at 7:00 a.m. thinking it had rained, and instantly I began to slide while my arms did circles above my head for about 5 feet.  I have no idea how I stayed standing.  Every move I made after that caused me to slide further down the slope of the driveway.  What I thought was wet from rain was actually covered by a thin sheet of ice.  I almost had a heart attack.  Determined to run outside on my day off, I truged forward into the sleet frozen onto the road.  I almost ate it about 20 times.  Regardless, I still made my 6 miles, enjoyed the newly cleaned winter air and saw my hawk fly over the snowy fields.  When I got back, it was starting to warm up (40 degrees!) and so I took a pick axe and went after the driveway (bumpy, thick, frozen tundra that has not melted for 3 weeks).  Then afterwards I went into the back yard to dig a hole for the cat to be buried in.  He's been curled up frozen in a box outside in the garage for a week and I have not been able to pick away at the dirt because it's been so frozen.  I dug a little each day for the last week. Finally, today it was warm and deep enough and so we laid Mr. Whiskers to rest next to my beloved black lab who died 4 years ago.  My hands and back were so tired by the time I was through with all of that, that skiing didn't even sound fun anymore.  So I went inside miffed that the day was not going as planned, and procedeed to clean my house in the obessive, OCD kind of way moving all the furniture to vacuum and bleach the baseboards, scrub the grout and thew out half my (and the kids) clothes and took them to DI along with 2 tons of other stuff I've been meaning to get rid of.  All that cleaning however, did not detract from the entire Lego Star Wars collection gathered in my living room.  At least the there's no more cat hair anywhere.

It was Bee-U-Teeful outside this morning.  Those clear blue skies and mild temps had my heart singing.  I was so chipper I gladly greeted the red-nosed, hypothermic tweeker who no doubt spent the night camping somewhere on the trail  "Hello Mr. Drug Addict, gorgeous morning eh?"  Unfortunately, my dog Sarah split one of the pads of her foot a few weeks ago, and so she hasn't been able to run with me.  So it's just me and the dumb blond (retriever) who can go. It doesn't inspire confidence.  Regardless, there was a balmy breeze and plenty of sunshine.  With the cat now buried, and my house 100% cleaner, I was feeling pretty chipper outside in the early morning sun. And after all, you know what's better than a three day weekend?  A four day work week!

I felt good today overall, but it's been tough to push to VO2 capacity the few times I got there.  I did have to really slow down though to catch my breath and get a drink.  My treadmill is sticking again (the rollers). It's scary running fast and then the belt sticks, it sends me flying over the front/top.  I wanted to be outside, but the snow would keep me from going fast (ish). I'm so pleased that it's snowing! Although it's still not enough for my taste--more, I want more, more, more.  I pledge to keep the driveway free of snow this time.  My hands are still so tired and sore from weilding that pick axe on Monday.  I spent a good deal of time hacking away at the frozen dirt and then at the driveway ice.  It still bothers me to button buttons, or type.   

I was thrilled it was snowing big fat flakes when I got to the trail.  The snow was fat and sticky on the trail, my favorite kind to run in.  I took Sara for the first time in 3 weeks since she split her paw and I unbandaged her foot.  She was getting so fat from not running, her back has grown as wide as a small table.  The retreiver got so excited about Sara coming with us that she ran up ahead really fast, and when she stopped suddenly to turn around and come back, she just slid off the trail down the embankment and almost fell into the river.  It was hilarious. She's such an idiot. I loved having the trail to myself today.  It feels impossible and indulgent to have a managemable piece of nature that big, wonderful, and important all to myself for almost an hour.  I miss skiing.  I have not been able to go as much as in years past (it gives me the same kind of enjoyment to be on the mountain in winter). But it is some comfort that while I can't go, the snow is only so-so this year.

Ran the track with Marsha this morning.  I don't mind going to the track once a week.  But every day was too much. I broke it up these past two weeks pretty well.  So today, we took it really easy and talked about her 15 year old son.  I feel so lucky my kids are not quite "there" yet, and for the most part, it has been pleasant to raise and live with them.  But alas, I stand at the precipice with a 13 year old.....Tommorrow, Catherine and I are doing 10.  Going into the double digits is some kind of a mental challenge for me.  I've run 9 two Saturdays in a row, but for some reason 10 makes the marathon training seem really underway.  The great news about today: I just spent the whole morning on the mountain!  I get so edgy if I don't ski, and I was so mad I didn't go on Monday--I was really struggling yesterday by the end of the day (mouthy, sarcastic, overly aggressive). I just had a window open up at 9:00, and so I scambled to out the door, anxious to be near the clouds clinging to the mountaintops.  It was a bit windy, but had just dumped a bit of new snow onto a few of my favorite runs.  It was so exhilerating to lift my arms and let the powder hug my skis in a controlled fall down the mountain.  I only got in a few hours, but it was totally worth it.  The clean air, the mountain view, the new snow.  I did it!   Now it's just back to worky work.

I spent Friday night thinking about the snow falling outside.  It actually kept me awake. 1) because I knew it would be hard to run in at 7 a.m and 2) I wanted to go skiing in it and 3) I had to go to my son's basketball game.  I was going to be on a tight a.m. schedule.  When I got up at 7, Catherine and I texted each other that we'd just make it a treadmill day.  But I went outside anyway and ran 6 outside in the fresh snow.  I was hard, like running in sand--but the temps were mild. Then I came inside and ran another 5 on the treadmill.  I went to my son's game, where his team lost the game 12-30 against a group of boys who were really tall and good players.  It was fun to watch these little boys play like their life depended on it.  It was a good experience for our team to lose and to have to play hard just to lose with some dignity. They learned a lot....  At noon, I was finally able to drive to Sundance.  The canyon was packed because of the film festival.  But the mountain itself was not that crouded.  I had the best afternoon I've had in a long time.  I only got 2 hours on Friday, but today I got 4.  It snowed almost the whole time, and so all my favorite runs were knee deep.  I met an old guy who skiied with me a few runs and absolutely changed my life with a few technique suggestions.  I love old timers. I love their calm wisdom and years of happy skiing experiences.  Skiing is amazing---no one there is having a bad day--No one.  You ride the lift and tell each other funny stories, give each other suggesetions & directions to hidden spots, ask about each other's jobs, kids, childhood's--and no one is unappy in those moments. You could write a book filled with Dickension characters about the people you meet on the ski lift.  It's the most amazing place to be made magical by a the white downy quilt that embraces the mountain and muffles the sound of your skis heading downhill.  I went to bed filled with images of the snow and floating silently down hill.  It was a really, really good day.