Happy Solstice!! One Day Early...

SOMEHOW I was keyed on December 22nd as being the solstice and marking that as the beginning of our emergence from the darkest days...but just now on my way in to work, my weatherman, Mark Breen (from the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury) announced that as of 1:35 pm today, we're guaranteed more light every day from here on out. YAY YAY YAY!!!! This day is way more significant to me than any other holiday of the year. It's the start of the yellow brick road leading to my Oz that is summer. Phew. Every year I wonder if I can hold on...and every year I manage somehow... I'm unwilling to trade living in the Northeast - I still think it's the best place to be - but I could do with a little more light, you know?

Today was my second ever morning run in the cold and dark. It was 3˚F, a balmy change from last week's -5˚F...and I remembered the neck warmer. My legs didn't freeze until about 20 minutes into it and by then there were only 10 minutes left so I survived. We're conserving heating fuel so are often chilled at 63˚F indoors but let me tell you how warm and cozy that is after being outside. There really is something to making yourself uncomfortable in order to remind yourself how truly comfortable you are.

Time for the weekly Power of Positive Thinking post:

The Good
Not much good about my training this week because it's all been GREAT. If I had to pick something on the lower end of good, I'd have to say it's the stress at work and the fact that I haven't had a spare second to christmas shop. I went shopping last night for about an hour and I struck out everywhere I went. Drat. Time to get really creative I think... Mom and Brother are taken care of but my Honey is a challenge. I'll figure it out. And even though work is crazy, it's going to calm down soon and then it will be smooth sailing until the spring. My job has the perfect cycle as it relates to tri...it's crazy from Oct until Jan when my training is at it's lowest (and when the days are darkest...but I'm so busy I hardly notice) and then it slowly tapers off to not much going on in June, July and August - racing season. It's just totally perfect. All I have to do is survive the next month and things will be all good...no problem.

Better
I'm on week two of sticking to the running and swimming plan of my half marathon training. I decided to add in one more early morning with my run so now Mondays and Fridays are the only 6:30am sleep-in days. Had two great swims this week even though I'm missing the presence of Weasel Boy. Things are on track and my mood is great.

Best
I totally surprised myself with a full 5 mile run on Sunday. My plan called for 4 miles which I was sure I could pull off at an easy 11:30/12:00 min. pace but I went around the lake so I knew I'd have an extra mile to get all the way around and planned on walking. My mile splits kept coming in at 11:30ish and by the end of mile 3 I felt like I was just getting started...finished out the run in about 57 minutes and wasn't sore either. I'm really floored that I pulled this off because I have not been running regularly since August and I've put on about 10 extra pounds...it was nice to realize that I still have it - and that my aerobic fitness wasn't my limiter...lung busters must be making a difference in the pool. Sweet...

The sky is really big at dawn...ever noticed that? Today the moon was bright enough that I could've run without streetlights. And I saw a spectacular shooting star. Very cool. Life is good.

Happy Solstice. Keep training hard...