Spring is here!

You can tell by the white stuff on the ground.

I did a nice slow 15 miles yesterday, getting in the good weather while I could. I missed Friday as I was megabusy at work and it was hammering rain all day. Saturday we were up early to head to the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival, and I was waddling around the rest of the day laden down with pancakes and maple syrup. Not sure how much of it burned off on the 15 miler.

This morning was horizontal rain at about 1 degree C, not my ideal conditions. The temps dropped later in the day to change the rain to snow, making it much more paletable and I did a late day 5 mile street loop. Tomorrow will be chilly and windy but not too preciptous. The cold always seems colder at this time of the year, partly because we're getting accustomed to warmer temps, and mainly because cold at this time of year is accompanied by a good stiff wind, as it's the only way to get all that arctic goodness this far south.

Missed the spring sprint this year, a nice chip timed, cheap and (reasonably) accurate 5k on the boardwalk. It was the start of my running season last year, chugged along at a pedestrian 20:55, and didn't really feel like doing worse than that given my pathetic training this winter, and besides Elmira and it's maple syrup was calling. This race has become popular for the local hot shot club runners, you can tell by the times, with 50 folk breaking 20 and the top finishers in the 15's. Notice the entries of Ron Da Silva Jardine (at 16:48) and James Earl (17:02), both of the East Toronto Striders running club. Both these guys are my age, just a touch younger. I'm always guaranteed to be a few spots lower on the age group page when the striders show up. Fortunately, I get a few months reprieve from them next year when I tick over to 50 and they take a short while to catch up. I'll hit the sprint for sure next year and see how I do in my new age bracket. I'll need to be better than last years 20:55 if I want to make an impression though. We'll see.