Winter Training, Or Not

I didn't go running on Sunday afternoon, January 4th, because I kicked a chair at church with my injured foot.  Yes, this same clumsy action is how I broke my stupid toe in the first place. At least I was wearing a shoe this time.  Anyway, I was hurting a little bit, so I chose to not run that afternoon.  Now, I'm wishing I had just doped up with the Tylenol/Codine the doctor prescribed and done it anyway because the pictures above show what happened on Monday.

On Sunday night I watched the evening news and saw that the temperature was predicted to be in the mid-forties and rain was expected to arrive in the late afternoon.  Mondays are the days my sister-in-law takes Ruby (the 2 year old) off my hands while the other kids are in school, so I thought it would be the perfect day to get in some serious running.  But at 6:15 that morning, just as I was getting started on my second cup of coffee, the rain started falling.  Then the temperatures started falling.  Blasted weathermen.

Ice did not stick to the roads, but it did stick to everything else.  My brother would probably run in the icy sleeting rain (in fact, I think he DID run that day probably while I was still drinking coffee), but I am not finding myself quite that dedicated to the sport yet.

It's hard to tell from pictures, but those little pine trees in the back of my house actually stand a little over 5 feet tall.  I planted them myself about 2 years ago from tiny twigs about 6 inches long.  Seeing them bent over under the weight of the ice made me think they were bowing down in submission and worship to the God of the Elements.  It made me sad to realize how stubborn I am in refusing to listen to the "sacred rhythms" God intends for my life.  (Good book, by the way.)  Makes me think of Psalm 66 where David says, "Everything on earth will worship you..." and Luke 19 where Jesus tells his disciples if his people don't praise him, the rocks will cry out.

Well, today at 2:30, I have a follow-up appointment with the orthopedic doctor.  Hopefully he will have good news for me in spite of the incident on Sunday.  The weather is supposed to clear off by tomorrow, so maybe I'll be able to make some headway this week.

One funny thing I forgot to mention:  As a person who starts running programs like some people stop smoking (meaning I've done it many times), the thing I hate most is that jiggly feeling.... some people are snickering and saying it's not just a FEELING it's a REALITY.... Just ignore those skinny, non-jiggly people and listen up.  One word:  Spanx!  It would probably be too hot to wear them under your running clothes in the summer, but in the winter it's great!  If you haven't heard of Spanx, that's what Google is for.  And while I'm giving out free advertising, I might as well tell you that Target carries a similar product made by the same company.