Darkest before the Dawn

Yesterday we had temps of 81 degrees. I took full advantage. As a triathlete training through the winter in Cleveland, Ohio, you never take days like these for granted.

When I arrived home for the night I looked at the radar(Some of the training tools we have are awesome. The desktop weather center is very cool.) and I saw something nasty moving east. I logged my workouts and read blogs. Apparently it was snowing in Iowa.

We all know what happened next. The wind blew, temps plummeted throughout the day and by 5PM snow was here once again. I had seen this coming long enough to schedule a run and lift day.

It took an hour of hearty procrastination to get running but by 6:10 I headed out the door and west down Mayfield toward Little Italy. The music was Yousou N'dour singing "My Hope Is In You". An African song of hope got me going and enabled me to quickly find my groove.

I hadn't really noticed the buds and blooms yet. The city was still winter black and white. Everything was still bare.

The Snow was starting to really come down. As I descended down Mayfield, it seemed as if the forsythia was blooming its first golden sign of spring in front of my eyes. A few more branches along the way were bursting with green. It was snowing while spring was happening before my eyes.

I ran down into University Circle which seemed like watching fireworks on independence day. I ran past the Cleveland Museum of Art and noted to my self that I needed to hurry up and go see the Monet exhibit. As I turned and headed around the lagoon in front of the museum I saw the willows and cherry Blossoms, forsythia and ground cover all coming back to life. The snow was like a thin veil lightly turning the scene pale while the new colors of spring were swimming together in a surreal manner that reinforced my desire to see the great impressionists work.

I traveled past a couple of softball games at Case. I saw an inside the park home run in one game. In another game I saw a catcher stop a similar outcome with nerves of steel at the plate as he survived a plate collision reminiscent of Pete Rose and Thurman Munson.

I headed up the hill and headed home.
One last shot at winter for the year. I don't want to miss this part. The earth is waking from it hibernation. As a triathlete training through the winter in Cleveland, Ohio, you never take days like these for granted.

No workout tomorrow. My pal Brendon is coming in from AZ and we are going to sit behind the score table at the Q for Shaq and Lebron.

Right now I am procrasnating my lifting. G'night