Solo Snow Run

 So, those 10-12 inches of snow haven't diminished much. Last night, we got a little more snow. I didn't think it would be noticeable, but it was enough to coat the roads again and make it necessary for me to shovel my stairs outside. I went out this morning for a snow run.
Let me tell you, this morning was a tough run, but it was also one of the most peaceful runs I've had in a really long time. I headed out to Old Faithful, JB Park. They don't do anything with the trails when it snows, but I'd been out after a snow before, and usually enough people have been on the trails that it's a little packed down. Of course, this amount of snow would take a lot more traffic to get packed down.
There were definitely some footpaths made, but they were not continuous and in some areas pretty sparse. So, all I did was the large loop and it took some serious effort. Many areas still had over 8 inches of snow to step into, which made running slower, and more like goose stepping. Going up the hills was more of a challenge as well. I did slow to a walk a few times, and honestly, it may have been more difficult to walk in this stuff than to run, simply because at least when you're running, you have some momentum built up to push out of the snow with each step. It seemed more tough walking. Maybe it was just me, though.
It was peaceful, especially, because I was literally THE ONLY PERSON THERE! I don't think that's ever happened. I saw a few deer that merely glanced at me as I crunched by.



Distance:  2.62 mi

Average Pace:  14:37/mile

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Running for MLK

One think I love about working for the library is the paid holidays. Yesterday was Martin Luther King, Jr day, so we were off and got paid. It just happened to be my weekend off, so that gave me a 3-day weekend. I had made plans Sunday evening to run Monday morning with my friend Joe. I couldn't do too long of a run, for two reasons: 1) I was actually a little sore from the previous day's Castlewood excursion. 2)I had to be at my sister's around 11, because we were taking my niece and nephew to see the bug exhibit at the Science Center. So, Joe and I decided to do an out and back of about 4 miles down Broadway. Broadway is just at the bottom of the hill on my street, and has nice wide sidewalks for running. There are very rarely any pedestrians, so it's a convenient path. It's also easy to change it up if desired on the way back and cut uphill to a different street on the return, which is what we did, taking Pennsylvania as far back as the street allowed. The r...
Read more

Cold Carondelet night

This weather is killing me. We get a bunch of snow, then it melts, then we have some random weird warm days, then below zero. I don't mind the cold. I used to hate it but now, eh. I don't like this back and forth shit though. I would rather it just stays one way or the other. And the snow definitely makes being consistent with running more difficult. So this week, once again, snow was in the forecast. This meant I wanted to try to get a run in before it was too messy. I didn't really want to do a night run, but it's pretty difficult to avoid in the winter like this. My friend Joe had volleyball Monday night, so we planned to meet at the Y after his game, putting the run at about 8:15. It was very cold, and the dark made it feel even colder. We headed out from the Y into Carondelet park and did a couple laps around the park. I had woken up Monday morning feeling the results of the fall on my stairs the day before, and I was a little skeptical about running that evening,...
Read more

Ouachita Trail 50 race report--April 13, 2019

Image
Before I talk about Ouachita, let me give you a brief backstory of my running. I started running in the Summer of 2011. I started out as a road runner, tackled a few 5ks, a few half marathons, and in 2015, the Chicago Marathon. In 2014, I had started dabbling in trail running and by 2016 I was sticking mostly to trails and starting to form an interest in this thing called ‘ultra running’. I had read the book Born to Run (what runner hasn’t??) and the idea of running beyond a marathon distance was both scary and intriguing to me. I had also met my now husband, James, himself an ultra runner, and this further increased my interest in ultras. In 2017, I ran my first official ultra, Dogwood Canyon 50K and in 2018, my 2 nd , Psycho Psummer 50K. Once those were under my belt, I was ready to set my sights on a 50 miler. I decided on the Ouachita 50 for a few reasons. I knew several people who had run it and they spoke highly of the race course, the aid stations and the race directors. It ...
Read more