The Blizzard Part 2

This was not the Ansel Adams type storm of Saturday. This was a nasty one. When I woke up my window was pasted with wind driven snow. I had yet to run on the treadmill, but decided today would be the day. I popped my laundry in the washer and then went next door and turned on the dreadmill. I "discovered" the incline button and cranked that high and set the pace high for the last 1/2 mile. Usually I am quite sore after running on the treadmill, but after 7 miles I felt surprisingly good. I showered then walked to the market to get groceries. Some of the drifts were thigh deep and I did a fair bit of slipping on the ice hidden beneath the Innocent fluffy snow.

Later in the afternoon I ventured to my fitness room for a second treadmill run, but found that all the machines were in use. Not wanting to wait, I went back upstairs and threw on tights and my yellow windbreaker. I wanted to at least experience part of the storm before it quit so I headed outside. As runners we are constantly guessing distances and paces. Before the advent of GPS watches and GoogleMaps, we were forced to guess. Still, even with these devices we guess on distance/pace more often than not. We are usually quite good at it too. I can guess to within the second when my feet will cross the next quarter mile mark on the RCT based on how I am feeling and my "inner pace". However, when I run with other people (slower or faster) my "inner pace" isn't as reliable. It's weird. I ran THIS LOOP yesterday and guessed it was 1.27 miles. Later I measured it and found it was actually 1.28. Swish! I ran 3+ loops and still found myself dipping under 7:00 pace despite the conditions. This is another good indicator. I feel like the snow doesn't slow me down as much as it might others. That being said, I often tire quickly while on the treadmill or a track. A digress...the wind had died somewhat but was still rearing its ugly head during an uphill section of the loop. I had to lean like the letter "L" on its side into the hill while occasionally darting my eyes up ahead to make sure no cars or plows might come barreling down on me. It was so windy that my teeth hurt. At the top of the hill, the wind would ease and I'd catch my breath. I only ran 4, but that was enough.

I showered, had some dinner then began an epic trek to Hank's (the local, and only, tavern). I donned snow goggles, ski pants, a ski jacket and thick mittens and waded through waist deep(!) snow drifts along the Trolley Trail. The going was brutal at times and I got a great chance to see how much snow we really got outside the residential areas (ie - not plowed). I was rewarded for my efforts with pitchers of cold beer, Golden Tee and pool.

So far this winter, we have 4x the amount of snow we usually have.