North Maple Rag

I'm back home. The roads this morning were no longer icy, but instead very, very slushy. By the time I got home, my normally dark green car was entirely muddy brown. The spray from other cars on the interstate significantly impaired my visibility, but I used my well-honed severe weather driving skills and it all turned out fine.

I just went running and I think I'm wheezing (I've never wheezed before, so I really don't know for sure). A couple of weeks ago, I found out that two friends who will be in New York in March are planning to run a half-marathon while they're there. Despite the fact that I've never run anything near 13 miles, I impulsively said I'd join them. So, I've made it one of my New Year's resolutions to actually go through with it. I've done a fairly good job with my training this week. I've got a long ways to go, though. My longest run this week was maybe four miles and I only ran three miles today. I was supposed to run more, but I don't think the authors of my training schedule anticipated that I'd be running on snowy/icy roads in single digit temperatures (the bank sign dowtown said it was 7 degrees at the midpoint of my run). I'd like to say the cold air was "brisk" or "invigorating," but really, it was just painful. Anyway, wish me luck . . . and grace -- this is totally the kind of hairbrained plan that ends with me in a cast.