Celebrating the Last Day of Winter

If you are a "glass-is-half-full" kind of person then you might view today as the last day of winter. I think that is a positive spin on tomorrow being the first day of spring. Here in the mid-south we've had an unusually cool and wet winter as predicted by the weather service experts and the Farmers Almanac. But, as I write this, the sun is shining, the skies are blue, and we even have the back door by the kitchen open to let in the spring-like breezes. Yesterday at lunch I went out to Shelby Farms for a mid-day run. It was wonderful seeing so many people out running, walking, sitting on blankets reading, and even a few young folks flying kites. People were variously dressed in shorts and tee shirts, sundresses, and sleeveless tank tops, with winter-pale limbs swinging and swaying in the purple weed dotted fields and up and down the running trails throughout the park. We were as lively as the daffodils and irises springing up from the moist dark ground swaying in the breezes, or the teal headed ducks bobbing along on the waves of the ponds and lakes along the trails.

It seemed an impromptu gathering to welcome back the life of spring and summer from the cold and listlessness of the passing winter. But alas, another cool front is due to come in tonight and leave us with a cloudy Sunday with a high of 50. This time of year teases us so cruelly with tastes of spring and then throws us back into the cooler of winter storage. But, trying so hard to be a glass-is-half-full person, I can remind myself that these bolts of cool weather are surely numbered for this season. Maybe a layer or two and a jacket will be needed for my long run on Sunday, but here's hoping afterward I'll be able to put them away until I'll happily be putting them on again in October. Another reminder that the seasons of life are truly a blessing: what we grow tired of one day, we can relish somewhere down the road. What a wonderful gift.

I've been running with Haruki Murakami's "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running," as an audio book on my iPod. It's not nearly as heart pounding inspiring as an upbeat Rolling Stones play-list, but it's pretty good for an easy long-run. I love the simplicity of his language; it feels like an old friend telling stories as we jog together through the park. And, I'm amazed and encouraged at his physical endurance. Yesterday I listened to his notes from running an ultra-marathon 52 mile run in Japan. I find it encouraging as I waddle along my 4 mile route up and down the trails. It makes me feel a part of the brotherhood -and sisterhood of the running world. Even though I'll never reach those kinds of miles, my own accomplishments…a PR 5K, a late winter 10K, a successful completion of a 1/2 marathon, those are the runs at this stage of my life, that make me feel part of the brotherhood.