Meep, Meep!

I realize that this is quickly turning into a running blog.  I will try and post something about the baby or something else soon.

I really dislike running on a treadmill.  Not only is it boring, but it makes my knees hurt.  In a pinch, I might run on a treadmill, but usually I avoid it. So, when I woke up Monday and saw that it had snowed, I thought, "Well, I could go to the gym and run on the treadmill, but I want to be hard core, so I'll head outside." It was early, and still cold, but I'm not afraid of a little cold.

So, out I went. The parking lot hadn't been plowed, but it was just my warm-up so I walked in a tire track.  When I got to the end of the road, I headed to the sidewalk I usually run on.  It hadn't been plowed, I thought I be hard core and run in the snow.  My first step resulted in a frozen foot (dang ventilated shoes!).  So I took to the road.

I ran along the road and it was rather comfortable, slushy, but better than the side walk.  The road was pretty quiet, and I hit my stride and was feeling really good about my choice to be hard core. 

Then I cam to the park I run through.  From where I first can see the park, it looked plowed, so when I got there I headed in.  It had only been plowed a few feet in, probably a plow turn around.  I thought I'd try the snow again, but it was too deep, so it was back to the road for me.

Now, this may seem like a simple decision, but...well...not so much.  It was either the ankle deep snow in the park or a big, steep hill.

I hate this hill, I hate to walk it, and run it.  But, I started off to run up this hill anyway.  I became the "hard core runner that could."

For about 5 steps.  I slipped and slid with all 5 steps.  I decided I could walk up the hill.  I continued to slip and slide up the hill as fast as I could, to keep my heart rate up.  I knew that Main Street was coming and that there would be too many cars on it to run safely.  I decided that I would have to do my best and run in the snow.  This run was not turning out too fun.

It was plowed! The sidewalk along Main Street had been plowed.  There was a thin layer of snow, but it was packed down and rather even.  I hit another stride and really enjoyed my running along Main Street.  Crossing the street at school street was really slushy, so I hurtled over it.  I slid a little, but thankfully, I did not land bottom first in the slush. 

The plowing ended after I turned at Handy Andy's (or Andy's Handy??), I took back tot he road.  There was very little traffic so I ran toward the center of the road.  I was remembering the safety video I saw in elementary school of a racoon in a police uniform telling the audience to walk facing traffic.  There wasn't much traffic, but the cars I did see, were polite and moved over so I wouldn't have to run in the slush. 

As I turned on to North Road, it was really quiet.  The sidewalk hadn't been plowed, so I decided to run in the road.  I was really starting to enjoy my run again and feel good about my decision to run this morning.

It didn't last long.  A plow was heading my way.  I moved over as far as I could, but the driver did not.  I had to jump into the bank to avoid getting taken out.  My feet had warmed up, but now I could feel the slush sloshing around in my shoes. 

At least the plow had slowed down.  A car was approaching, I stayed as close as I could to the bank.  The driver did move over slightly, but she didn't slow down.  There was a little bit of slush on the road.

That's right readers, I got sprayed. 

I was wearing a few layers, so most of my body was fine.  However, just a little bit of slush did land on my neck.

And slide down my back.

I can handle cold, slushy feet.  But, mostly frozen water sliding down my back, not so much.

I almost started to cry. 

I the rest of the run was without event, but all I could think about was the line of cold-ness down my back.  Not even my new Glee music was making it better.

Lesson learned: If it has snowed the night before, wait until afternoon to run, the sidewalks are more likely to be plowed.

So, I think if there was any doubt that I am a hard core runner, there shouldn't be any more. Now, I am even a road runner!