The weather here has been beautiful here for the past week or so (aside from the possibility of snow over the weekend…) and yet I’ve found myself in some sort of funk that has been hard to shake off and has kept me fairly sedentary as the world grows warmer outside. I think partially I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to race in what I had been preparing for since the start of the year. All at once my race was nonexistant, my training plan was over and the VRAA came to a close the same weekend as well. All my motivators fell out from under me. I’m happy to report though that I did get back on my feet today and it was exactly what I needed. I arrived at work this morning a little angry that I had forgotten my lunch, I’ve really been trying to bring something to eat everyday in an attempt to eat better and help my body and my running at the same time. Soon thereafter though, I realized that I have to work this coming Saturday which of course means that I’m due a comp day this week to make up for the hours. I saw the sun shining outside and knew that I had no excuse to not get out and conquer some miles if my work day was really going to be over at noon. It took some time, I relaxed a little with the boyfriend when I got home, knowing that with our friend coming over to work on his car today, there would be little time for alone time later. After a couple hours I was ready to go, but I knew my fuel tank was running just about on empty and so I decided to make myself a tomato grilled cheese sandwich before heading out and save my packed lunch for tomorrow at work. After letting that settle a minute I was out the door. I decided to do my Salmon Creek run since I hadn’t done that one in a while and it’s easy to adjust the mileage to suit how I’m feeling; I figured my first run out after 2 weeks off shouldn’t be a super long one. Being such a fabulous day outside I decided to start straight from my house rather than driving down to the fishing spot that I usually start at which meant that I got to start my run off with a nice downhill jaunt, followed by a steep uphill climb before leveling out on Salmon Creek Rd. While the clear blue sky and warm temperatures were very inviting and calming I was disappointed to still see so much brown, none of the trees have really burst forth into spring yet, though I think it’s just around the corner. I decided to turn back just past the 2 mile point figuring that 4 miles was a good starting point to get back into the swing of things after my couple week lapse. On my way back I decided that climbing the huge uphill towards my street didn’t sound like a whole bunch of fun at that point of my run, and so at the fishing spot I turned off the road and headed up the stream hoping that there would be space to run along its edge all the way back to my house. Thankfully fishing season recently started and the fishermen had trampled down a nice path for me to follow. Running across the sand and the rocks and the weeds was fun and different for my feet and my mind to grapple with.  I saw a fisherman walking up the same side just a bit ahead of me and watched him cross the stream.  I was hoping to not get too wet as I crossed so I ran up a bit further than he had gone, only to have to backtrack for what looked like the safest and easiest crossing spot in the area.  Unfortunately it was a somewhat wide spot in the river so although I made it halfway across on the rocks, eventually I had to give in and just get my feet wet.  The current was stronger than expected, but the temperature of the water was much warmer than I had feared.  Once on the other side I ran the last little bit to get to where my property comes down to the stream and search for an appropriate place to scale the gorge wall.  If the fisherman saw me (I had passed him by at that point) he must of thought I was nuts as I grabbed for handholds and pulled myself up, but I was surprised to find that the upper part of the climb was much less sandy and therefore easier to climb than it was last summer.  All in all it was a very enjoyable run by the end and I think I might incorporate running up the stream more often so long as the water levels stay down; maybe see if I can run all the way to the lake!  Hopefully  I can get back in my groove now and move on to the half training that I’ve pretty much convinced myself is the next step at this point.  Still searching for the right plan, but I’ve read through a couple that look doable.  Unfortunately there are still no races I can find that fall at the right time.