Technically, a day early but because Philly got its second heaviest snowfall yesterday ever with 23.2″ reported, the season has officially begun.

I woke up on Saturday to a glistening white morning with a lot of wind.  The winds calmed down a bit by the time I got out, though a windchill of 11 with blowing snow required all my cold-weather accessories; glasses with the clear lenses snapped in, homemade neck gaiter from the leg of a pair of stretch pants, 2 pairs of socks and my headband with a billed hat instead of the knit hat so the snow wouldn’t pelt my face too badly.  Clothes-wise, I wore my UA mock, a shortsleeve over that and my Asics storm jacket with thick tights below.  Fabu.

The parks commission is the greatest, they had already plowed the path, so I was running on mostly packed snow.  I had intended to go 5 or 6 but it was so astoundingly beautiful and I figured Sunday would be a real mess, that I extended the run to 12 miles to get the weekend’s LR out of the way.  It stayed lovely until the last 1/2 mile when the winds got nasty, so I was happy to get home when I did.

Today, as expected, was a total mess of ice and snow.  The mile getting to the park required tip-toeing, jumping and sliding.  Once there though, it was even better than yesterday, they plowed it so well I was running directly on the asphalt.  I just went 6, finishing off a second week of 53 miles, all easy.

Meanwhile, my car is behind a 5′ wall of snow thanks to the plows.  I attempted to clear some off, but lacking a shovel, I used my plastic kitchen trash can which was working pretty well, but then some funny old guy who was shoveling halfway down the block came over laughing saying, “I’ve been shoveling snow since 1958 and have never seen anyone use a bucket.  Here, use my shovel for awhile.”  Honestly, the trash can worked better than the shovel, but it was so sweet of him, I used it for about 20 minutes.  Then I got tired and bored and said screw it.

So I hope the snow magically disappears in the next couple days because I have a job on Wednesday that I have to drive to, but with the forecast remaining cold, I think I’ll be out there with my trash can on Tuesday, only then it’ll be iced.  Fun.

Speaking of jobs, I just found an odd one online that I did for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  I’m the brown dog. Then, at the end, if you click the link for the Gallery, there are links on the left under Galleries and Activities that say “Watch a story” – I’m in those, too (though they’ve switched our voices to opposite dogs, lol).  ‘Twas an odd character piece, but a nice change from the usual dry stuff I do.

In other work news, I just completed my first week of the aforementioned Financial Marathon cycle and LOVED it!  My usual method of working is 12-14 hour days until a project is finished, then I take way too much time off to regroup.  No more, now I’m steady as she goes. Parceling my time out in smaller increments is a lot more appealing  and will ultimately be way more sustainable.  I did 31 hours of hard-core work, plus more that I’m not counting because it’s research and reading and I find that to be purely fun.

And my boss (who is at this moment stunningly beautiful in her uniform of PJs, robe and fuzzy booties) is turning out to be a real gem.  She’s already mulling over bonuses of a high-quality graphics monitor and an iPhone but hasn’t decided yet how to implement it.  Maybe for a string of 40-hour weeks for the iPhone and if the June 30 goal comes in a month early, the monitor.

It’s all hugely fun, but also a major life change that couldn’t have come at a better time.  Running consumed me this past year and while it was meaningful and so rewarding, there’s been a serious lack of balance.  Now that I’m headed toward some non-running goals, I can see how much room I have to grow in other areas of my life.  Though it all goes back to running, because without its impact, I’d never dream of the plans I have now or know I could achieve them without question.

I could go on about the discoveries I’m making and my magic motivational notebook which is becoming a life force unto itself, but I’ll save it for another time…or not.  This is, after all, a running blog and motivational stuff might be a yawn to most of you out there.  If you feel one way or the other, let me know in a comment, I’m happy to oblige either way.

Have a happy Monday, kids.

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