Redeemed by Beauty

Despite the bravado of Tuesday's post, running day after day in the relentless cold is not always rewarding, especially when it's not snowing and it's just plain cold.  The temperature is not supposed to go above freezing for the next three days, so once again it's a matter of trying to find the most optimum time of day, dressing out, and simply getting out the door without too much hesitation or delay.  I know that is the state of mind a runner would have to have who endures the winters in colder places than Highlands, which after all usually has such mild winters that runners don't have to miss many days out on the road. 

I took a look at the temperature this morning and noted that it had risen to a balmy 25 degrees, higher than that predicted in Highlands by mid-afternoon.  It is always 5 to 10 degrees warmer here in Clear Creek, so I decided to get a short run in this morning, down the sunny valley below our house, out of the wind.  That would give me time to split some more of that firewood in the afternoon.

Running when it is in the 20s or colder is just maintenance - it doesn't make sense to me to try to go long, or fast.  So I eased on down the hill and around the corner, and I have to admit I had not expected that the wind would be so strong and the cold so bitter.  I found myself running backward at one point, and turning my head to the side, simply to give my face a break from the wind.  Running due west for a mile or so, I expected that it would feel nice to have that cold wind at my back on the return trip.  But somehow the prevailing conditions tricked me again, and I found myself running into the wind again after I had turned and headed back home.  "How is that even possible?"  I thought. 

What an ordeal!  I tried to look around at the frozen fields, the brittle icy branches, and find some beauty and satisfaction in this hard and windy world.  And suddenly I was rewarded:  the flash of three big white flags appeared in the woods along the road as a little herd of deer crashed and galloped away, leaping crazily over little logs and disappearing up the ridge. 

A run redeemed once again by unexpected beauty.