Winter Update

I haven't disappeared. I am still here. Just not writing as much. I guess it goes in phases.

The good news is that things are still good.

Last year I was flabbergasted when I signed up for one silly duathlon at the end of September and somehow within 2 months I had already signed up for a triathlon and a century. It's not that I'm a super athlete or missing any (or all) rational thinking skills, it's just that these events present themselves and naturally, simply fall into place. This year, when the same snowballing effect happened it was comforting--almost as if I didn't find the races, but the races found me.

The first one on the schedule is the Lincoln Half Marathon, held in my home town of Lincoln, Nebraska. The irony here is that I didn't run a single mile outdoors the entirety of the time I lived there. In fact, that's sort of the point. I've been very active for 2 years now, but I still have pangs that it isn't real and it won't last. This Half Marathon is a perfect way to go back to the place I was the weakest and close the chapter on that portion of my life. Run through those streets I know so well and finally know for a fact: This is the new me and she is here to stay.

Part of the earlier training schedule has meant regularly running outside. I used to think winter running would be an absolute agony and frankly only something masochists found interesting. It has turned out to be nothing of the sort. It's quiet and serene, often shockingly beautiful and far from cold. Yak Tracks (sometimes called YakTrax) have helped immensely and I cannot speak highly enough of having them. Not only do I not slip on ice, but I don't really notice it at all. It's freed up every single running route I had thought was inaccessible.

I still have a long way to go and a lot of learning to do but I feel like I'm making head way.

Onward and upward!