Monday, December 22, 2008

First Run of Winter

The view from my front window about 11:00 am today

Even though it didn't really seem like it given the weather for the past month, yesterday was officially the first day of winter. It arrived in style, heralded by the Storm of December '08 on Friday, which deposited about a foot of snow on my fair city.

Seeing that I am on vacation until January 5 (HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAA), I am taking full advantage of my string of days off by running as much as I can in the mornings. When I got up today (9:00 am, ahhhhhh) it seemed like a perfect morning for a long run.

Yes, it does say "12 degrees." And that was after I came back!

Late last night around bedtime it was zero degrees F and the wind was blowing ferociously. This morning, however, the wind had died down, the temperature had crept up (it was 10 degrees when I headed out) and there were intermittent flurries of big poofy flakes. I put on my best winter running outfit and hit the roads. I went over to the other side of town to part of the 8-mile loop that I ran twice a week during marathon training, a route I had not trod in nearly three months. My favorite port-a-potty was missing from the athletic fields, not that I would have dared expose any extra body parts to the elements even if I had found myself in a dire emergency (fortunately, no issues this time). The snow waxed and waned and I could feel both it and the vapor from my breath collecting and freezing on my face. As soon as I got back I took a picture before the crust melted.

I had icicles in my hair all the way around. Gotta love winter!

9 comments:

tfh said...

What a pretty view from your window...

great job not just running in the cold and snow but, from the sound of it, enjoying it.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

You're certifiable, sister.

I went for a 5 mile walk on the ice here in Joisey where the temperature was in the single digits, and considered myself a Viking for doing so.

You win this round, Sarah (I-MI).

(The "I" is for "Insane")

BeachRunner said...

Glav is right. That is just wacky, cah-ray-zay, looney stuff.

joyRuN said...

Beautiful snow! Nice to look at, not so much to run in (for sissy me anyway).

Enjoy the time off.

Anonymous said...

You are tough. I barely managed thirty treadmill minutes yesterday due to 5! power outages while walking.

Maggs said...

Brrr...... that makes me cold just looking at it. Good on you for getting out there.

Razz said...

get the first run out of the way and you're good, right? RIGHT????

That's what I keep telling myself.

Nitmos said...

As tfh said, the snow is pretty....as in pretty much a bitch to run through. I've taken 5 days off but I'm braving the elements - no matter what they are - for the next 2 nights.

Merry Christmas!

chia said...

Merry Christmas! Great post. It's good to see some positive running action happening in this stuff ;-)