Communing with nature

Yesterday was spent skiing in New York's Tug Hill region, an area of 150,000 acres sitting just east of Lake Ontario. The region receives massive amounts of lake effect snow each year (typically around 400 inches). The day was picture-perfect; bright blue sky, abundant sunshine and about 4 inches of snow clinging to all the trees. It was cold, somewhere between 10-14 degrees Fahrenheit. Each time I put a pole into the snow, there was a little "squeak" and I easily fell into a rhythmic stride. It took me back to when I was a kid and my mom and I would go skiing in the neighboring woods. I am grateful that she took the time to encourage and join in on our outdoor activities.

Today I'd like to get a long-ish run in, since it's so hard to squeeze it in during the week. I finally feel like I've got the appropriate ambition to train properly for my long-distance race goals and I am itching to do longer distances. I am having to hold myself back from increasing distances too quickly, as I don't want to risk injury. Right now I'm comfortably running 4-5 miles at a time, but at a very slow pace. I'm currently researching training plans for the half-iron distance in July. All indications are that I should start a 20-week plan around March 1st so that I can be adequately prepared.

All of this training time is going to leave little time for accessory "stuff", so I am trying to trim unnecessary internet surfing time. This past week, I loosely kept track of the time I spent on the internet and I was surprised at the total number. And that was when I was purposefully trying to keep it down. Well, that definitely means there's room for improvement!