"Hi Mike"

It was kind of wet and snowy this morning and my plan was to take a car down to my gym and run 10 miles .Yeah, I'm lucky enough to be a member of the Park Slope Armory YMCA .(I am also lucky enough to be in the accessoride on demand program so I can travel like an adult. Spontaneously). There's a 200 m track there.

On the ride there I saw that the conditions would have been perfect for running. The ground was wet. But there was a wet snowfall accumulating on every surface except the roadways and sidewalks. It was beautiful. I got to the gym and decided I would warm up a little and head back out the door to Prospect Park. Just for a little bit in my shorts and hoodie. I wanted to show GBS it didn't totally break me . On my way to the park I was contemplating this blog post. It was going to be really negative and dark . About how I still had a little bit of me left . Because I love running in the snow .

I got to the park and heard two words that completely changed my mindset. "Hi Mike", I recognized the voice instantly It was one of my old long-term friends from the running world. She said hello to me so naturally like it was the place I was supposed to be at that time. She greeted me like it was inevitable that she'd meet me in the park on our snowy day. I replied to her that I was only running about 50 ft in the park because I just wanted get a slice on the snowy park.... That I was on my way back to the gym. Her reply was simple."Of course!".

"Of course", But sometimes  I guess I need a reminder . I don't have to define myself As someone who's recovering from a terrible illness.  I'm just another runner in the park. "Of course!".

image description: a selfie I took of myself
in Prospect Park where I belong
wth a little bit of snow accumulating
 on my shoulders and hat.

Anyway, I dashed back to the park slope armory and put my hat and sweatshirt in the locker I did the 10 mi I was planning to do on the track.Next week I'm planning on running a 10 mile race outside on the hills in the cold and I'd like to break 3 hours So I figured I'd see if I can break 3 hours today in better circumstances. I started my Timex when I got onto the track And it helped me count the 80 laps. When I was done it took me exactly 2 hours and 59 minutes.

So below is the Strava picture of my run. Please ignore the distances it says because Stava thinks the satellites collect accurately when I'm indoors and running on a 200 m track. It does neither

And of course since I was running with a camera in my pocket I had to take this picture

Image Description: an  older TV on the sidewalk covered in snow with a bumper sticker across the front that says" We used to watch everything together"