I just finished a great 45-minute run through the German woods on an icy path; felt like James Bond prepping for a mission. Had on running shoes, a pair of stretch pants, sleeveless t-shirt, my O’Dowd sweatshirt, edelweiss bandanna, Jaguar ball cap and fleece gloves.

Up hill, down hill, along the tracks, the path marked by steel tags nailed to the trees indicating the difficulty of the cross country ski course. Had some kickass tunes from my current playlist going: “Screamer” and “Girls and Boys” by Good Charlotte, “Orbit” by my good old favs Red Planet, “Dirty Little Secret” by All American Rejects, and the very rockin’ “I’m Just a Kid” by Simple Plan among others.

I dusted off the old Minnesota skills of running on icy ground, short strides, hands deployed ready for the slip and fall, especially down hill, where every third step you ease to the side of the path to get the heavier snow to slow down a bit.

After I reluctantly headed home (I rarely run anymore, saving my legs for fencing, so knew I couldn’t go forever without a pulled something or some serious aches the next day), I was still sweating when I reached the in-laws door so paced back and forth outside, cooling down, my whole torso steaming through the sweatshirt in the wan Winter light.

I was still so charged up I just had to hit the dirt, doing slow press-ups on the gravelly sidewalk. I hated to go back inside but didn’t want to get pneumonia, either. Felt Frickin’ GREAT! One of those times you can feel your eyes glowing in your head–not quite the charge of a good tough bout, but still pretty amped. I felt totally ready for the second half of the season, my right arm twitching with the technicolor bout going on in my head — BOO-YAH!

We’re gonna get a freeze tomorrow, so glad I got the workout in, today as I had that nagging low-grade headache from the toxin building up of being inside and having too many heavy meals. Ahhhhhh! Fröhlich Weinachten!