Seasons of running

Since my marathon training, I have come to a far greater appreciation for the process of running.  I find that I am noticing my progress (or lack of) differently, finding my "mood" or running gait to "feel" differently and I am paying attention to different details with every one.  The detail I'm thinking about today is "running seasons."  If you aren't a runner, you might be thinking of spring, summer,winter,fall; but I think most runners measure seasons differently.  It might even be that every runner has their own definition.  Here in Iowa, among the groups I run with most, we seem to have these seasons: training season, race season, fall season, holiday season and January/February season.  There might be a sixth season in between training and racing and fall called vacation season and all those might mesh together a little.  But, each has a distinct mindset.  For example, I happily did NOTHING during holiday season (November/December).  Well, at least "nothing" as defined by a runner:  I ran a 4-mile race on Thanksgiving day and did not "really" run again until New Years Day (that means that I might have run a couple times but no more than 2 miles and probably not outside).  Today, I am thinking about running in the dreaded winter season.  That's because today was a perfect winter running day.  It's in the 30's and the sun is shining.  The roads aren't quite clear, so sometimes you find yourself running in a sort of slush-like "sand" and everything is wet.  Running on a day like today is a double-hitter for me because I not only get the outdoor run endorphin hit, but I also get a great big dose of outdoor vitamin D, which I am sorely lacking.  My run today wasn't even a very good run.  I felt sluggish, slow, thirsty and out of breath.  But, here I am, post-run, basking in how awesome it was to do it.  Relishing even my very slow gait up 1st St hill and cursing that I let myself walk up "the bump" before that.  I'm smiling over the fact that our trio today included Heather, who hasn't been out with us since early fall.  And, I'm tickled that these running friends of mine share little pieces of news from their lives with me as we pass through the miles.  Running in Iowa on a day like today is glorious, no matter how good/bad the run is.  After all, tomorrow, the winter running season may actually feel like that and each of us will choose to either skip it altogether or forego the midwest elements for some mindless indoor alternative while we dream of what training season will need to be.  After all, the January part of winter season is for dreaming' not until the February part of winter running season do we need to commit to actual goals.