Half Full

March = Ick.  Since taking up residence in New England, I've always struggled with this month.  I think I may have a touch of Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the cold, muddy days of March always seem to kick it into high gear.  So far, this year is no exception.  It is so beautiful here in Maine, but on a walk the other day I was just struck by how absolutely GRAY everything was... the sky, the sea, the stones, even the worn cedar-shingled houses which look so charmingly coastal in the summer seemed incredibly depressing to me.  What I wouldn't give for a shot of green or purple on the landscape!  And also not helping me this year is the fact that Baby J will be a year old in a month + a week, and I am just nowhere near as fit as I was pre-pregnancy, or as I wanted to be or thought I would be by the time I had an almost-walking little guy on my hands.  Sigh.  So, what's a sweet mama to do?  I know I have to fight the good fight and not just skulk around with my hot chocolate waiting for the warm weather to come.  And I know the best way to combat both the winter blues and this post-baby softness is to get out and exercise, no matter what the weather.  Which is just what I did today.

Here's the little guy, all snuggled in with his Maine lobster, ready for a chilly 3-miler.  Yes, I took my baby out for a run while it was snowing sideways (don't know if you can tell that from this photo, but it was).  Bad mom or exercise inspiration?  You be the judge.  I felt so much better afterwards, and the best part was when I scored a high-five from Baby J after we came back in the door (his newest trick!  LOVE it!).  I need these runs to keep myself feeling like the glass is half full, and to keep me half sane during this evil month of March, so I figure the best way to keep myself on track is to give myself a goal.  So, in the name of my half-sanity, I've decided to do a half-marathon!

The work gals and I have been talking about this for awhile, but our future has been so up in the air of late, I didn't dare plan anything too far in advance.  However, now I feel reasonably certain that we will be in the greater Boston area in June, so I am going to do the 13.1 Boston Marathon.  Why this race?  For one thing, it is on June 27, which means the weather will be lovely and I'll have more than enough time to properly train.  But also, the slogan of the race is "where the party meets the pavement".  Gotta love that.  They promise an entertainment-filled course through the relatively flat city of Boston, and that sounds perfect to me.  What better way to celebrate our new hometown than to run 13.1 miles through it, right?  The idea of getting fit enough to run a half-marathon and to cross the finish line and score one of Baby J's high fives might just be enough to carry me through the grossness of my arch-nemesis month and keep me outside getting the endorphins I need to carry on.  Who's with me?!

How do you battle the winter blues?

Want to train for a half-marathon?  Check out Hal Higdon's Training Plan: