When will spring arrive?

Alright, this is getting downright depressing. I enjoyed an overly-long fall, including 70 degree days in early January, and was running pretty well at the time. Now, however, spring does not seem to want to arrive and we are still experiencing freezing temperatures and rain. Global warming my ass.

It makes me not want to run, much.

Not that I have time. the last week of Feb and the first three weeks of April have, for the last five years, been what I call Hell month. Project after project comes due and I always manage to get it all done. This year, two more large projects were added on top of the usual workload and they'll likely reoccur. My running has suffered for it all, as has my sleep, my nutrition, and...yes...even my health a little. I'm getting gunkier, though I'm not feeling bad or anything. I'm still getting out for a run about once a week, but that's so not enough.

Well, things are breezing right along and I'll get in a good run this weekend; I'm aiming for a slow-and-steady eight-miler. If I do the flat route out to Verrazano Bridge, it should be OK. It's going to be cold and miserable, though.

I'm looking forward to the Brooklyn half the following weekend, in the same way a meth addict looks forward to rehab: he knows it will be good for him and he'll wind up feeling good and feeling like a better man for it; but it will be a slow and painful slog to get there. My strategy is to use the boardwalk miles to warm up, concentrate on NOT walking during the six miles of Ocean Parkway, then deal with the five miles of Prospect Park hills as best I can. If I have to walk some of that, no big deal.

Incidentally, I saw NYFlyGirl at the Scotland Run and we chatted for a bit. I know she doesn't like the Brooklyn half (Queens is her run), but I distinctly recall seeing her zip by last year in good form and I can't shake the impression that it's the kind of challenge she meets well. I also recall that it was directly after my first (and so far only) Brooklyn Half that the Rundown by Derek Rose got started and I started perusing Beast's blog. Neat stuff. BTW, Beast just finished the JFK 50-miler on so little training it's not even funny. How the hell does he do that?? Well, that's neat, too.

And now, a funny easter cartoon which appeals to my dry humour: