Track and Field Blogs - Lori Zimmerman

I'm a little late posting this -- I should have had it up last week -- but things have seemed a little hectic lately, with several trips and too much work... Everyone had good runs down south in January, although most of us got sick during (me) or right after (everyone else) those trips... fortunately we had downtime to recover.

This "downtime" concept is new to me; normally it would freak me out to take off time just a few months before a big marathon -- but I have to say that it was a welcome and relaxing break. I took advantage of the time off by escaping to the Florida Keys. Not much sunshine (it was "bad" weather for them), but it still was much warmer than up here in Michigan. In between I also spent several days visiting my family and recuperating from the flu or whatever it was that we all had.

As soon as we returned from our downtime, we were off to Seattle for a week with the good folks at Brooks, who wined and dined us and showed us around the city and the company -- wow, was I ever impressed! In my legal career I've done plenty of employment counseling, so it was especially fun to get to sit in on their annual meeting... made me want to buy some Brooks stock for sure! What a talented group of people (and I'm not just saying that because they sponsor the team...)! The Seattle trip was great fun: nice to run on solid ground again (as with the Keys, it was "cold" to the Seattlites, but tropically balmy to our frozen Michigan senses), winding our way around Green Lake, Discovery Park, Lake Union, Queen Anne, and First Hill... gorgeous views everywhere we looked, with lots of those runs that remind you why you started running in the first place. :)

Now we're back in Michigan for another week, and we're being pelted daily with more snow, falling thick and creating a fresh winter wonderland for us every morning, it seems. This morning's batch was the thick, sticky, snowman-snow that practically begged us to make and throw snowballs after our run. :) Next Sunday we leave for more spring training down south, this time in Hilton Head and St. Augustine, two places that I actually have never been, so I'm looking forward to exploring -- and to being able to see/feel the ground while running! :)