Running In A Winter Wonderland

Wednesday (1/21/15) -  6.4 mile loop in neighborhood untimed.

Thursday (1/22/15) - 6.4 mile loop.

Friday (1/23/15 - 6.4 mile loop.

Saturday (1/24/15) - 4 miles, 31:34, 7:56 pace.  Speed work on the treadmill at the gym.  8 x 400s at 8.4-8.9 speeds with 7 speed recovery runs in between.

Sunday (1/25/15) - 7.09 miles, 59:20, 8:22 pace at SUNY Old Westbury.  Started run at 3:30pm at 39 degrees.  The temperature dropped down to 36 degrees by the end of the run.  I dressed inappropriately, wearing only shorts, a tech turtle neck neck with a long sleeve cotton shirt over it, and a baseball cap.  I was chilly throughout the run, never really warming up completely.  I passed only a couple of other runners on the campus, both covered from head to toe in winter running gear.  Later, one of those runners posted on the Greater Long Island Running Club (GLIRC) Facebook page that he recognized me from earlier, pointing out my shorts.  This morning a different runner reassured me that I had made the right decision because he had worn shorts that day, too.  I like that explanation.

Monday (1/26/15) - Regular day off.

Tuesday (1/27/15) - The "Worst Snow Storm of All Time" (more like "Worst Snow Storm of the Week") hit the east coast overnight.  The Governor and New York City Mayor declared a State of Emergency.  The 24-hour news channels were giddy about the impending doom.   I almost got a little panicky about getting trapped on Long Island during Snow Laughing Matter (My alternative to the overused "Snowmageddon" and "Snowpocalypse").  They were closing mass transit and all bridges and tunnels by 11pm Monday night.  When I awoke Tuesday morning, I expected to see my neighbors, who had turned into zombie yetis while I was sleeping, shuffling to my house looking for an Aimée appetizer and kids meals, literally.  Instead, I found 12 inches of powder.  It was easy enough to shovel with a little help from my freighbor at the end (Good timing on his part?).  Freighbor and I were shoveling snow, by the way, because Pete is conveniently on a road trip odyssey to Utah via Florida (Did I mention he was geographically impaired?  Probably not because I, too, was unaware of his disability until the day he mapped out his itinerary.).  The kids spent the day playing outside.  And my 14-year old dog reverted back to puppyhood, pouncing and burying his nose like he was hunting for wabbits.

I waited until my son's friend went home, then headed out the door at 4:30pm.  I was excited to run in the new snow.  It was 27 degrees and sunny.  I wore long leggings, my Avalanche pullover with a heattech turtleneck underneath, gloves, a wool hat, and my wool Pearl Izumi socks.  I ran confidently on mostly packed down snow because of my Yaktrax.  Not one slip or fall.  I stayed mostly on the sidewalks because there wasn't enough room in the streets and I didn't want to risk a car not being able to stop in case of an emergency.  My biggest hurdles were the snowbanks at the corners and the handful of sidewalks that weren't shoveled.  Other than these, I had a fantastic run.  I chose not to run with music so all I could hear were my footfalls on the crunchy snow and my breathing.  The crisp air felt fresh on my face and in my lungs.  The sky was a beautiful pink at sunset, and then a muted violet.  I felt fantastic for the duration.  Unfortunately, I left my cell phone at home so no photos.  Just imagine a winter wonderland with me running in the middle.  Good, you got it.

Lucky for me, NBCNews4 Chopper captured last night's sunset much better than I ever could. 

 I almost forgot to mention the man driving past me who shouted, "You're my hero!" out his car window.  That was nice.

Total Miles - 37.09