Mid Michigan Weekend

After the half marathon (view race report HERE), Matt, Joel, Kim, and I spent the day wandering Mt Pleasant.  Memories flowed through my head as I remembered fondly my first days of independence.  I remembered my running routes and courses.  We wandered the academic buildings so Matt could see the improvements they made.  I was most interested in revisiting my favorite spot, deep within a riverside park: the place where Matt proposed.  Nearly every of my runs passed through this park.  I spent many miles at different stages of growing up here.  I had not returned to this special spot since that steamy April day.  This time, we had three friends in tow. 

Nick joked, “This is it?  Really?”  Joel added, “well, maybe it looks better in the summer.”  It basically looked as it did this brisk January afternoon, minus the icy pond.  “The pond is shaped like a heart though, look!” Matt remarked. 

Sometimes we can’t explain those places closest to our hearts.

We stayed for a basketball game and then headed back to Lansing. 

Matt's in a photo on the wall of the new basketball arena.

The snow finally let up and clear skies brought a chill to my breath.  Winter weather finally.  Up until that weekend, highs in the upper 30s hardly were what I was hoping for. 

Sunday, Matt and I went for a slow and easy recovery run in the snow.  Most people were still asleep when we strapped on our ice cleats.  Beneath the two inches of fresh snow were sheets of ice.

Although I was wearing my spikes, I still slid around a lot.  It was fun.  A couple snow angels later and we returned home with just a few miles and silly little grins on our faces. 

 

Sun through the clouds on our drive home.