A Magical Weekend

Man, what a great weekend. This weekend was even better than last weekend when I ate a delicious homemade raw soy coconut burrito and hung out with friends as we watched the sun set over the mountaintop. Ross and Oliver came up for the Lake Effect Half Marathon--Ross to run it and Oliver to watch us run as he stood motionless in the wind and snow and cold.

After a delightful evening out on the town Friday night that included a Restaurant Week trip to Pastabilities, we woke up on Saturday morning to find that winter had decided to give it one more go here in Syracuse.

The ground was covered with at least three inches of freshly fallen snow, which showed no signs of abating. The wind whirled ferociously like some crazy nutty super wind.

We quickly decided to run the race together and make it a workout. Thinking it was one big out and back (out being into the headwind), my plan was to run the out part with Ross and push it on the way back. I should have realized that it was actually a two-loop course, though, based on the fact that the lake trail is only so long. Ross and I ran together for the first out segment before I picked it up slightly.

Really, it was two different races out there. Running into the wind was horrible, and there were huge snow flakes hitting you in the eyes every few steps. Running back was a piece of cake, though, and it made you want to throw your hat and gloves to the side of the trail. (Thankfully, I didn't do this, as I was glad to have them for the third quarter of the race.)

After the race, we went downtown for the Margarita Mixoff and Sandwich Stroll. Saturday night involved catching up with Cornell alumni at Heps, and Sunday was basically a full day of quality track and field at the Heps in Barton Hall. Cornell ended up getting second on both the men's and women's sides, but it was a great meet nonetheless.