Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Not quite the run I had hoped for, but given the cold (34 degrees with a real feel of 25), the wind (20 mph), the snow (really should have taken sunglasses), and the hills (four, two pretty good ones), I'm happy with the 30:10 I finished with. That's a 9:44 pace, much faster than this time last year, and much better than the 5k from four months ago. I finished 9th out of 21 in my age group, and though I wanted sub-30, I'm not disappointed. Actually, I'm kind of eager to see what I can do with better conditions. The first mile I heard the young lady call out 9:13 when I passed. I really just wanted to maintain that, and I think I did pretty good through mile 2. It was mile 3 that got me. The wind was in my face for much of that mile, and one of the tougher hills was during that mile, too. I know I slowed considerably. For not running outside for four months, I am very happy with how I handled the conditions and the course. I'm even happier with my mindset. My leg...

Now that the stair climb is over, my thoughts are turning to the next event on the calendar, a 5k. And I'm actually looking forward to it. Since December, I've been working on the my mental state more than I've been working on my physical state. The physical is in a good place right now with being able to run a 5k without any trouble. The form is improving, the endurance is increasing, and the speed is there to tap into. The mental state, though, has a tough time seeing all of these things as positives. I did a lot of self-reflection through November, even taking the month off, and made one big decision. That decision is I will participate in 5k events, sprint tri events, and cycling events, but only for personal enjoyment, not to try and prove something to anyone, especially myself. Being a perfectionist as well as highly competitive, this was a difficult step for me to take. Getting back to training in December, I started slowly, running and cycling on the trainer alm...

The Jingle Bell Run went okay. I lost track of my colleagues who were a part of my group. In fact, I only saw two of the six of us before the start of the run. I ran alone for the first two miles, at which time I decided to walk for a bit. One member of the group caught up to me then and we finished the race together. I crossed the line at 33:30, which is one minute 14 seconds faster than last year's run but four minutes slower than my PR. I expected a slower time today. I just haven't run that much since August. After the run, I took the bike out for a ride. My whole mindset while riding is so different from when I'm running, though I will say my mindset today while running was actually pretty good. I wasn't there for competition. I was there to run for a good cause, get some exercise in, and just enjoy the weather. But when I'm on the bike, I can push it and love every second of it. If the wind is blowing 20 mph, I don't mind a bit. If the course has two mile ...