A spring in my step

There are so many good clichés using the word "spring."


Hope springs eternal.
From the end spring new beginnings.*
If winter comes, can spring be far behind? **
Spring forward.


There are probably lots more but they don't come to mind just now. But I think it's quite fitting that the various definitions of spring, whether it be the season we have just begun, or the verb meaning moving forward with force and speed, all signify growth, change, and forward motion.

Today (Monday) was the first time I have gone for a run since the official beginning of spring on Friday. (In fact my last run was on the last day of winter, March 19). Maybe it was the four-day non-running rest period, or maybe it really was the change of seasons, but this was the best run I've had in weeks. I did 5.77 miles at an average ten minute pace, with half the splits below ten minutes and half just over, except for the first mile which was 10:46. This doesn't sound terribly impressive, I know, but considering the hard time I've had lately, a ten-minute and faster pace in a morning run is unheard of.

It wasn't an easy run—I had to push myself some—but it felt good to know that I could do that. Perhaps it's the first step in breaking out of my slump. Maybe the new spring season is, in fact, a new beginning.


*Pliny the Elder.
**Percy Bysshe Shelley