I find myself shocked at how “back to normal” I finally feel after the last month of holidays, snow, ice storms, and unwanted slack. To quote the great George Costanza after he ate that magic, penis-moving mango, “I’m back, baby! I’m back!” Well, maybe not that good.

I awoke this morning to 7˚ temps, but by the time I got to the trails a few hours later, it had warmed up to 12˚. And while I don’t particularly love it when it’s that cold, I did love that it was that cold because of crystal clear skies, which meant a rare, extended appearance from the sun for the first time in a month or two.

Due to the extreme cold and the fact that I already had 18.74 miles in this week, I knew I could go a tad shorter on Thursday, and did a 5.52-mile loop, which had me exceeding my shortened 20-mile goal this week, as part of the Winter Contingency Act.

Now, I have 24.56 miles in, and I hope to hit my 30 in 5 goal on Friday for the first time since mid-freaking-November. Thus allowing me to avoid use of the W.C.A.

I saw some neat things today, including the actual sun, a deer lying down in the snow as I passed, and a squirrel fall roughly 20 feet from a tree, bounce up, and run away. Meanwhile, if I fall two feet, my will to live is broken, along with the likelihood of a hip.

Hoping to hit 30 on Friday. If not, whatever.

Later.