Could It Be?

Despite our backyard fence still being completely buried up to the top and more snow being dumped on us Thursday evening, I think and hope that spring may be thinking about arriving.

Yesterday everything was melting and the temperatures were above freezing for the first time since November. I've heard a few more Blue Jays as of late and even though these are technically "winter birds," we didn't hear them all winter long. It was probably too cold for them: they were probably worried that if they bothered to open their mouths to sing, it would get frozen open. (Just a little factoid about birds: most birds don't sing from their mouths. The sounds come from their feathers instead).

Anyway, aside from my random knowledge about bird noises, I am excited to report that I managed to chip most of the ice off of my front steps; a first since about December. The little bush beside our front door is trying to poke through too. We haven't seen it since about December either. If you didn't know there was a bush there, you would have just thought we had a snow hill beside our front door for convenient sledding.

The truth of the matter is though that we are still buried under a good four to five feet of snow and even though it's trying to melt, I think it will take a while for it to go. However, with the temperatures warmer and snow still remaining on the ground, I am going to take full advantage of the ski trails. Coach T and I did a 4 K skate ski on Thursday, a 10 K classic ski earlier in the week and we're back out today. Technically speaking the cross country trails are supposed to stop being groomed after March 31, but sometimes if there's enough snow-and there will be-the club continues to groom. Once the snow has melted enough and they aren't grooming anymore, it's time to start running. Coach T and I are entering a 10 K road race in June, with the option of maybe switching it to a half marathon. Running a half marathon and ultimately a marathon is something I've always wanted to do and since Coach T is keen to do it with me, I may grab this opportunity and just do it.

But, that will be something we'll have to decide once we can actually start running. It's already April, basically, and if it takes most of the month of April for the conditions to allow us to run, it may be pushing it to be ready to run a half marathon. I'm a sprinter and used to be a swimmer...running and running long distances is definitely out of my comfort zone.

But we all know I'm a crazy person and so will probably end up doing it anyway. :)

For now though, here's to hoping that spring is really on its way.