Yesterday I logged my final 20-miler for the Carmel Marathon, and I’m welcoming the ease of lower mileage with wide open arms. Taper time, just as Spring has arrived. Well, sort of.
All morning I procrastinated starting my run, as Indy got shellacked with a steady ice rain. Thankfully the ground was too warm for it to stick and get slick on the roads and sidewalks, but it iced over the new spring buds and branches into a striking seasonal collision.
By later afternoon when I set out, there were frosted snowdrops and bright purple crocus and the trees overhead made a sound like wind chimes as icy branches collided in the breeze. For the second half of my run, it warmed a few degrees, enough to melt slivers of ice. Bit by bit, frozen shards dropped from electric lines and trees and shattered on the ground. Combined with woodpeckers drumming, it was an interesting percussive backdrop.
The colder temps were a reprieve from the sudden 60s with 80%+ humidity that made last week’s workouts harder in a way that feels new until I remember it is this way every Spring. Midwest weather likes to throw a few wild swings to make acclimation extra challenging. Along with the influx of bird song and new shoots of green, there’s the clumsy recalibration of what to wear, how to hydrate, the body adjusting and remembering how to sweat. Before getting any sort of footing, another cold snap.
I am trying to learn from the newly formed bud. Most buds set in the summertime. Then all winter long, wait patiently. The bud does not despair about the cold or the temperature swings. It is patient, knowing the sun will melt the ice, and soon stay longer in the sky, and its day will come to unfurl.
All this fitness I’ve been building over the winter is there, like the bud. Just a taper away. Not quite ready, but almost.
#WriteAsRun Prompt No. 12: Make way for the new.
Spring is a time for renewal and growth. What changes do you see in the natural world around you during your runs? Do the new signs of life change your perspective on running? In the spirit of spring, consider how you might make space for the ways in which you wish to grow.
March 12, 2021