Shakeout: The Big Melt
A welcome reprieve from the weather gods
Having survived – to this point – one of the coldest, windiest, and iciest New England winters in recent memory, it appears we’re finally ready to begin the process of thawing. We’ve got temperatures in the 30s creeping into the 40s this week, along with a bit of rain in the forecast to help expedite what promises to be a sloppy, slushy melt. What our Vermont friends call Mud Season.
To be sure, it’s not like spring has actually sprung. The month of March is still winter around here, and one can only guess at what wacky weather we have in store for us before the Boston Marathon on April 21. Blizzards, Nor’easters, and other meteorological messes have been known to wreak havoc with winter training plans.
Still, it seems like we’re finally getting to the other side of snow season and for that I am grateful to the weather gods for a reprieve. Not a moment too soon either. Week after week of sub-optimal conditions mostly due to wind and ice have produced performances that haven’t quite met my goals.
At times, it feels like I’m trying to maintain my fitness more than developing it further. Yet, that creeping sense of stagnation has been held at bay by an opposing mental framework. Perhaps it’s not where I should be that matters. Rather, the most important thing could be understanding where I am. Maybe, where I am is exactly where I’ve needed to be all along.
