I started running again yesterday, after taking two weeks off due to cold weather, snow, and leftover snow (i.e., icy surface conditions). Not that I’m that much of a wimp when it comes to running outside, but I’ve learned what my thresholds for cold intolerance are and I have a desire to not get injured doing something stupid like running on ice. So I took the two weeks off. Yesterday went about 6 miles; today a little over 3. I’m sore now. I haven’t been sore from such short runs in a long time. It’s not quite like starting over, but my aches tell me otherwise. I guess I can’t get back to where I was without a bit of suffering. Of course, prior to the two week hiatus, I was only averaging about two runs per week, due to heavy work load and plain old exhaustion. Though I have to admit, it was rather enjoyable running on the inch or so of snow that was on the ground yesterday morning. It was nice and quiet, and provided decent traction (no ice worries). Things should get interesting this week, with temperatures above freezing during the day to melt some of the snow that’s stuck around, and then falling below freezing at night to freeze all the melt that had no place to go. Lots of fun in the dark at 6:30am!