IT'S A COUCH!

Cocoa Microfiber, Jr.
Born 1:37 p.m. EST
150 lbs, 87 inches

I feel like a proud mother, who after months (i.e., two weeks) of waiting and hours (i.e. 5 minutes) of pushing (by the movers) I finally have my baby in my arms (i.e., I'm sitting on it).

And love it I do, but that didn't stop me from saying a temporary goodbye for a 2-mile jaunt around the Back Bay with the training group. And to the 9 people who yesterday voted for me to ditch the run and break in the new couch - my apologies.

The run itself went well. Something about the first 50-degree day in what seems like eternity gets me inspired. Not inspiring, though, was the view of Back Bay - it looked more like the aftermath of Woodstock '94 and smelled, well, a little like the aftermath of Woodstock '94. That storm tide sure had it's way with the running path.

But I'm hardcore, remember, so I plugged along. And you know, it felt great.

I've been procrastinating the official running start. I've gone out for a jog here and there, but my heart hasn't been in it - my heart's actually be adamantly against it, giving my ribs a good thumping at every attempt at exercise. Mother Nature seems to think running's a bad idea too. Last Thursday I skipped the group run, and here's why:

Of course, that snow quickly melted, so I was preparing myself mentally to run early this week. But then this happened:

Bless the weather for encouraging my laziness! But then today - the group run day - the sun suddenly breaks through - the roads start drying - trees are lifted off running paths. I'm having trouble finding a loophole today.

But then I remembered - my new couch is being delivered today! It's like a cocoa-colored cloud sent from heaven, draped with a stain-resistant microfiber covering. I've been daydreaming of it for days and now that it's home-coming has arrived, how can I abandon it in it's very first moments as my couch?

That'd just be cruel. I owe it to the couch, after it's long journey from South Portland, to cancel any plans and cuddle it 'til morning, right?