convincing myself i missed this

i didn't really have a good excuse for not running at all last week. i mean the first few days maybe with the whole marathon recovery and all. monday i was slightly delirious from lack of sleep and still riding high off of my runners high but by tuesday it was an all out revolt. i hobbled down the stairs at home and sat in traffic that was eeking by due to more snow and coldness and other general attendant minnesota wintery love from mother nature. when i i finally made my way to work i slid across the snow and ice covered parking lot then i drug my sorry self up five flights of stairs looking like a maniacal climber about to go careening off the side of a mountain just to avoid the elevator (or maybe the people who take the elevator). so needless to say running was out. wednesday was slightly better. the legs had calmed from a scream to a whimper. i spent a decent part of the morning looking for marathons in the spring and summer squarely going against my own promise to not register for anything right now. but i didn't register so i still came out on top if not registering can somehow be construed as winning in this equation... thursday morning it was -4. yipee. entirely unconsequential in the scheme of things except it means that exhaust freezes to the roads. on contact. and creates black ice. which causes accidents. including the one that spencer and i were in on our way to school. we were rear-ended. nothing major. happy i was driving a crv with a nice tire on the back - good shock and damage absorber. need to get the rear door fixed and the tire replaced but all in all it could have been much worse. finally the weekend rolls around. saturday we went sledding. the hill was crazy fast. the snow is glistened with ice and packed to perfection so you fly down it and almost have a difficult time not slipping while walking back up. and the boy and i went swimming. sunday i ran. just to run. no schedule. no agenda. no set distance. 12 degrees. -2 windchill. a bit of a difference from the previous weekend in ca with 50+ degrees and the ocean but running is still running. it took the first 2 miles to remember the snow pack and the cold in my lungs and the feeling on my hips and back...with travel and treadmill it's been 2 weeks since i ran outside on this. i considered turning around and running 4 but even without an agenda i wanted to hit at least 5 so i kept going. over a few hills and through some snow and ice patches to a main turnaround. and then back. approaching the car i finally looked at my garmin. 8.5 miles. good enough. more sledding in the afternoon. appreciated the extra day off today. took the boy and the dog snowshoeing. then knocked out 4.5 miles of intervals. well maybe i did miss this...