Good Start

Ran Sweetbriar Loop, my 8-mile loop, this morning alone after E. apparently overslept. Temps were in hi 20's and I had basically the same stuff on as yesterday and was, for the most part, comfortable. These temps are nice to run in. Now all I have to complain about is the snow, which makes running a bit hazardous when it encroaches on the street and narrows the distances between me and cars. Also, there is one point on this loop where I have to cut through a field to get out of Fairmount Park and onto Parkside Ave. and there were no paths or even footprints I could follow so I had to do it snowshoe style.

8 miles in for the first run of the week is always a good start. Gets me on the weekly quota and effectively cuts my running week to 6 days. Its not unusual to miss a Monday run for either scheduling or recovery reasons, and that gives less wiggle room for rearranging the schedule later in the week. I made an effort not to look at my watch during the run and the final time was 66:24.

This also closes the books on January, giving me 232 miles. I had said that I'd be happy with 200+ miles for the month, so by that light it was a success. My reach goal was to beat last year's January total, which was 244 miles, so I came up a bit short in that respect. But I'll look on the bright side and call it a solid month. I've also been blogging this for a month now. That is something to feel good about as well.

So now its Monday. My fingers are typing slower due to the residual cold that lingers in them. My mind must have some of that coldness in it as well as I'm not thinking too deeply this morning. Nothing ponderous this morning. NY Times says that the Iraqi election went well. While I have major problems with us being over there I am glad the elections went well and I've got to admire people who risk their lives to vote. Who's teaching who about democracy?