Here comes spring...:)

So, it is March already. Last night we received another 3" of snow...many people are saying "Enough already!".

I feel as though lately when I am running I am chasing spring...it is so close it seems some days, and then so elusive the next. My winter training is starting to pick up now, Chippewa 50k is 6 weeks away...can't believe its been almost a year since my first ultra! Its like someone once said in the LPTR group, "it isnt the years, its the miles...". I am planning on attempting my first 50 miler this year at Ice Age. Actually a few of the people from the running group are, so it will be a 'collective' effort!
I learned a lot last year about not slowing down enough for your body to recover, and how important stretching is for your legs...I was humbled and excited to reach new heights with my running, and this year I hope to do the same. School has been keeping me very busy; and slims down the miles but I get out as often as I can- and plug in to the primal force of feet on trail. It is the time spent in nature that keeps me grounded, when the rest of the world may be spinning out of control or even just your own, the trail is there to beckon you to put down the worries and come out and play for awhile. When I am running everything is in motion, my body, my breath, my mind. All working in unison towards the simple goal of maintaining movement. So simple and yet having all those muscles working in unison as a single unit is awesome.
I have learned quite a bit this past year about letting life happen, and trying not to control it.It is truly beyond us; and how we scrutinize our time is down right ridiculous at times...its all about schedules, our schedules. Not the ancient movement of the ecosystems all around us, the very ones that we ourselves are a part of. Who even knows the seasons of the foods they are eating these days?
I am really hoping to learn some new foods this year, perhaps refine the diet a bit to better assist in my training. There are a lot of things changing, and it has been amusing and exciting watching them unravel just as it was to watch my orchid bloom this winter, as every year it does it is is unique. This year was no different, with the plant taking its own time to show off, leaving me with nothing to do but wait. When it happened, its timing was perfect...New Years Day. If only our timing could be so, if we were able to read natures watch a little better instead of our own...maybe we would be blooming a little more profoundly ourselves.
"Ships are safest in the ports, but that is not what ships are built for..." good thought to sleep on.