Well, today was another day stuck in the house due to the snowy and icy roads. Around lunchtime, I talked myself into venturing out for a snow jog. Last year I discovered a single YakTrax on one of my runs so I figured I would just put that one on and see how it worked! I know, I'm a total dork!
I headed out with Hershey figuring that she would motivate me to get at least one mile in of run/walking. It took a while for my Garmin to link up with the satellites and it was tough to wait since it was so cold out. The temps were around 7 degrees so I had lots of layers on. I even added a polar fleece scarf at the last minute and was glad that I did, especially when my chin got super cold during my run.
My street hadn't yet been plowed so I stayed to the car tracks until I got to the main road. Even though the main road had been plowed it was mostly ice with a layer of tight packed snow over top of it. I kept to the edge where it was crunchy ice/snow and wasn't too slippery. Hershey quickly grew tired of running so at the 1/2 mile mark we turned around so I could drop her off. She spent the entire return trip running behind me...nothing I did could entice her along any faster. She did enjoy going but was happy to get home!
I headed back out and went a little further on the second round. My crunching feet scared some deer at one point and I got to watch them bounding through the snow covered trees. I was on narrow, hilly roads so I made a point to stop anytime I heard a vehicle. I felt safer watching the car in case they would slide and then starting back running after they passed. Near my turn around point a random stray dog decided to express himself with some barking. Luckily he didn't stay interested in me for very long.
Towards the end of my run I got more comfortable running on the snow and ice and was able to slightly pick up the pace but for the most part it was a slow recovery run for me. I ended up with 4.5 miles for my run and I was glad to learn that snowy roads aren't as bad as I thought! I'm even thinking I might head out again tomorrow...maybe switch my single YakTrax to my left foot this time!
Way to get out there. I'm usually pretty good about getting out in the snow, but with the storms we've had lately it has been too treacherous. Hopefully it will be an early spring! ;)
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