Run Recap: January Blues

I think of January as grey. White snowfall peppered with muddy slush, skies that never become more than a pale ashy shade, bitter cold frost and biting wind. This is a Massachusetts January for much of the time.

But this weekend, after the blizzard, we finally had blue sky. Yesterday I did a beautiful 6-mile run with gradual hills and intervals of walking, which is my favorite way to do longer distances because I always feel better the next day. I saw a cute dog and a lady stopped to talk to me. “I’m hoping the sun will melt all this snow!” she said optimistically. “I just couldn’t stay inside on a day like this.”

Everyone was happier because the sun had decided to make an appearance. There was literally not a cloud in the sky, God purging the world after Saturday’s thick, windy blizzard. It was above freezing for the first time in a couple of weeks and although the roads weren’t in perfect condition, I felt perfect. I felt like I was emerging from a dark shell of running without the sun in the mornings and beneath cloud cover. I love beginning my days with three miles of sweat and hard work. It makes me clearer, tougher, better during the day.

But what I love more than that is running on the weekends, when there is no office to get to in a couple of hours and I can take all the time in the world to pet puppies on the way or take pictures of snow banks that inspire me. I loved this one because it hadn’t been marred by footprints yet. Snow is so much more beautiful when it hasn’t been touched by us. That’s why I like to travel by road, leaving the soft cover of cold undisturbed and peaceful.

Distance running makes me feel the same way this snow bank looks.