Winterscape

It's been another week of low motivation, cold, and ice. Yesterday I made it out for 10 miles only because there was group from the running club going, and I didn't have to wake up too early. It turned out to be a pleasant run even though there were so treacherously icy sections.

I ran with Jacob and Dan for the first 4 miles, and it was a little bit of a challenge to keep up with them, though I did it. After a potty break at the ELC, I ended up running with Valerie and Sheila for the last 6 miles. Valerie knows all the birds, and she pointed out a kingfisher perched on a powerline overhead, so I learned a new bird.

In the afternoon I did yoga with Lauren at our class and I can tell how tight I am. My quads especially, but I think running on ice has made things even tighter because I can feel all these muscles: my groin and hamstrings and calves, from bracing on the ice. I can even feel it in my upper back.

The lack of sunshine has been the hardest part. We're spoiled here, we are used to most days being sunny. I can tell how badly it's all affected me, I've been uniformly unmotivated in all aspects of my life lately.

Yesterday in yoga I realized how uncomfortable I feel carrying the extra winter weight, and it's two months to my birthday so I am going to try to back off on the bad habits and make it a goal to drop the bike tire and hips by then. I have to start working out regularly, though, two days of running a week just won't cut it. Marissa's 12 hour event is after my birthday, and I know by then I could drop most of what I gained since the fall, maybe all of it.

This morning the sky is gray, I woke up early but I have no desire to run this early, even though 24 degrees feels warm to me now. I can run in a single pair of tights. Crossing the Great Antarctic Ice Sheet to get to Lemay Avenue, the first plowed street near our house, is the big deterrent for me. Trying not to injure myself in the four blocks to there is the challenge. It's a full mile and a quarter to the Power Trail, and I just have to get from here to there, and then it's almost ice-free.

Yesterday there was an article on the front page of the Coloradoan about the ice problem in town. Our street is one of the worst areas because of the lack of drainage and we don't have much traffic, so it doesn't ever get plowed. Our ice rink is up over the curb in some places, spilling over onto the sidewalk. It gets warm during the day and melts the snow but it doesn't stay warm enough or long enough to evaporate much of the moisture, so it pools and freezes. The small streets in town are really bad. The sidewalks are death traps.

The bike paths are mostly clear except for occasional underpasses that get slick. So there isn't much choice of where to run these days. The trails are not in any shape for running unless you want to wear spikes, or you enjoy going one mile an hour over uneven patches, chunks, and icy spots. I want to go up to Horsetooth Reservoir eventually, but the past week it was too slick.

From the warmth of the woman cave I can entertain myself watching the girls on the Buffcam in the house. Here, Iris does her leap onto the couch.

It's a good thing I'm easily entertained. Whatever it takes to keep cabin fever under control...