A hint

Not to jinx anything, but I do believe there is a hint of ....non-winter.... in the air. The birds have been bringing out their brightest warbles, the sky is a deeper blue, the sun actually has some warmth to it, animals are frisking about in pairs, and my-oh-my the prairie dog colonies are happenin' places these days!

The clincher, though, came this afternoon. Joe and I hit the 800 stretch of road near my neighborhood for a speedwork ladder. My legs didn't know what hit them. But they sure did like being out there in shorts! Weeehaww!

Perambulating tourism

It appears that sight-seeing on foot was something I got very good at during the summer's run. Yesterday I fell right back into the habit, and what a fine habit it is! The day started with a run to my volunteer job, picking up AndyE along the way. As we shifted direction from east to north we were treated to a spectacular moon set over the continental divide as the rising sun cast a pink glow over the snow-capped peaks. It took our breath away. (Oh for a real camera rather than my meager little phone camera.)

After volunteering, I had appointments to keep and errands to run and not quite enough time to actually run the full distance from work to appointment. Since it was a too gorgeous a day to waste, I decided to take a bus toward town then run the rest of the way to my appointment. Taking the bus put me a bit ahead of schedule so I could travel at a very leisurely pace and found myself on a route I had run almost every Saturday for 15 years or so when I would run from my house in south Boulder to my running buddy Patti's house in north Boulder. In those days, I would be caught up with thoughts about work, kids, getting to Patti's on time, things to get done on the weekend, etc., etc., etc. and ran fairly oblivious to my surroundings. Yesterday, however, I was the ultimate tourist traversing the streets. Look at those remodels! What a lovely stained glass! How 'bout that log house! What an interesting flower pot holder!

Yep, a marvelous way to travel! I ought to do some more of it!

Running 'til the well runs dry

...or at least the water bottle...


I left the house this morning with the thermometer reading 24 degrees. By the time I finished my volunteer work, a couple of hours later, the degrees had moved up to 36. Still cold enough for multiple layers. As I started my run from the volunteer location, I realized I was bored with every one of the routes home - lovely trails and paths tho' they may be, I've simply run them way too many times lately. Since even warmer temps were predicted for the day - the warmest temps we've seen in many a day - I decided I'd just run directly home and save most of my miles for later in the day. Fifteen minutes later, I was ready to shed a layer and found myself zigging east (away from home) rather than zagging homeward. With each step, up the temperature climbed. DEEEElightful!

I was running and stripping, preschoolers were out on walking field trips, skateboarders and rollerbladers were whizzing by, model plane flyers were out in the fields (the little spec in the photo just right of center, a bit above the flatirons, is a model glider), playgrounds were filled with squealing kiddos, moms were out with strollers and babies in backpacks, dads were out with daughters on training wheels, an old fella was walking his cat, people were running and cycling in shorts, and everybody was smiling. Oh we do love that hint of spring! So zig zig zig I went until my water bottle started to run dry, then it was a zagging trot on back to the homestead where I jumped into a pair of shorts and bounced right back outside to enjoy today's golden sunshine ....for tomorrow it shall snow....