Beauty of birdsong, St. Pat's day 10k

​MY ST. PATTY’S DAY 10K:  I ran it March 14 because the Saint’s actual feast day Friday, March 17 would be a travel day for me as would the next day, Saturday.  Conditions were very cold and windy, mostly crisp and clear except for several minutes in which there was a weird snow band-like white-out.  The roads were icy and hard-snow covered, crunchy. If you think I am setting this up to explain a poor performance you’re wrong.
 
 It’s a set up to an explanation of I why I changed the goal of the run.
 
Instead of a race against the clock/previous best 10K, it was to be a ‘just finish’ event. I was wearing 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of socks, 4 top layers, a knit cap, earmuffs, and a hood (some of the way). Movement was not going to be fluid and easy.  
 
Because the footing was uncertain and slippery a good deal of the way, safety was the number one concern over performance. Going into spring running with a broken bone or soft tissue injury was not something to list under the heading of a ‘win’, so the slow going wasn’t unexpected or discouraging. I took my time.
 
It was early, just at sunrise. The birds, bless their feathery little bodies, were singing cheerfully. How do they do that when it’s so blustery? Some cottagers must have put up wind chimes in the great weather of the preceding month because I heard them tinkling and bonging along the way. Perhaps the chimes were always there and  I had never noticed the sound before, but something made the run’s audible portion memorable.  I recall thinking that a good name for this day’s goal finish of 6.25 miles would be the “Beauty of Birdsong 10k”. 
 
The return leg of the course was into the wind. I was so happy to be finished and to have fulfilled the commitment to complete a 10k in honor of my namesake saint’s day.  Strangely it was one of my slowest but most satisfying finishes, ever.
 
Hopefully you are not discouraged from completing your planned event, whatever you decide it will be.
 
RUN HAPPY!