1. Have a goal. I know, I talk about the importance of having goals, about how they’re essential to keep you motivated. And yet … . Beginning last October, my goal was the Umstead Marathon, which was on March 2. I ran (mostly) the marathon, then, according to plan, took some time off. Of course, the plan was to take maybe a week or two before setting a new goal, signing up for a race and training anew. The goal was not to take a couple months, which is about what happened. Oh, I was running — every now and then. I needed a goal — I needed another trail race.

Action: I signed up for Race #3 in the River Bound Race Series in Charlotte, on the trail network at the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Specifically, I’ll be doing the 15K. The race is July 20; I have 2 1/2 months to train.

Re-action: I ran 21 miles last week — about as many miles as I’ve run since March 2 — including a 10-mile trail run at Umstead.

2. Commute by bike. I’ve contemplated the bike commute for a while now; on Friday, it was time. My daughter wanted to use the car for a day-long school project. I tossed her the keys,

Action: Granted, I work mostly from home, but I also work a fair amount of the time from a collection of local coffee shops. I briefly scouted a map for secondary roads and greenways to one of my faves, gave the bike a quick tune, took 10 minutes to get my commuter gear together.

Re-action: Though it was only 5.6 miles to the coffee shop, I ended up logging more than 18 for the day, incorporating several errands into the mix. 18.6 miles, 1 hour 18 minutes on the bike, an average of 13.2 mph. Pretty good day on the bike.

3. Serenity now! Early in the week, I was stressed; lots of deadlines, lots of obstacles. I tend to withdraw when I get stressed, get glassy-eyed, pick at my fingernails, make odd clucking noises, scare the kids. Marcy is adept at spotting the early warning signs, and this time was no exception. She tried to get me to do deep breathing exercises; for whatever reason, I resisted. “You need Yoga,” she suggested.

Action: The next morning I woke up tight as Jimmy Conners’ tennis racket with an accompanying stress headache. Desperate, I tried the deep breathing exercises — and within minutes my neck and shoulders had downgraded from a T2000 to a plush Prince oversized  as forgiving as Mother Teresa (someone, please — call the metaphor police!)

Re-action: I signed up for a yoga class Thursday nights at Lake Johnson.

Act, people. Now.

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This morning I learned from WRAL Website that today is the start of “meteorological” spring. “The term is supposed to signify a noticeable change in the weather as the harshest 90 days of winter come to an end,” says the site.

Noticeable change?
Hmm.
I say this after watching the forecast for this week — especially for Saturday — grow colder by the day. At the beginning of the week the day was expected to start around freezing and make it into the low 50s. Today, we’re still looking at a freezing start, but the high is only supposed to hit 47. And there is mention of snow flurries. I don’t thing that’s the direction of change the good scientists who came up with the term meant.
I’m especially disappointed in this, the advent of meteorological spring because tomorrow is the Umstead Marathon, and last I looked my name was among the 250 race entrants. While cool weather trumps hot for running a marathon one truism of aging I’ve learned is that there’s a disproportionate relationship between cooler temperatures and the time it takes to rev your body up. That is, at 40 degrees, it takes a 30-year-old five minutes to warm up, a 56-year-old (moi) 10 minutes. At 30 degrees, it takes the 30-year-old (still running in shorts and a T-shirt, by the way), maybe six minutes; me, it will take most of the morning.
True, you may note, It’s a marathon — you’ve got 26.1 miles to warm up. You’ve got all day, ha ha!
Technically, no. There’s a cut off — I only have 6 hours.
My point: tomorrow’s weather may be good for a lot of things, I’m just not sure a marathon is one of them. But I’ll get back to you on that.
So what is this weekend’s weather good for? Two things:

• Hiking. Cool temps — and who knows how much longer they’ll last — are ideal for a walk in the woods. Find out about good hikes near you through our collaboration with the Great Outdoor Provision Co. The basics here, more in-depth descriptions here.
• Skiing. “You’ll see awesome conditions no matter where you go this weekend,” advises SkiSoutheast.com. A one-two punch of natural snow (up to seven inches have fallen in the high country in the past 72 hours) and continued cold temperatures ideal for snowmaking make for a great first meteorological spring weekend on the slopes.
• Cross-country skiing. With at least a half foot of snow, some of the high-country’s higher trails may be open. Check out our x-country guide here.

Remember, the weather is always good for something outdoors.
And for the record, calendar spring beings March 20. Hopefully we’ll see a noticeable change by then.

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