Ice, Ice Baby

I wanted to go running with my buddy! It's been cold. It's been snowy. It's been icy. When we get a break and the ice starts to melt, it comes in again before we can take advantage of it. I was sick of waiting. I was determined to go on a run.

Our usual path is either not shoveled at all or it's ice. When I would drive by the park that we usually run around, I could see that the path had been shoveled. I knew we wouldn't be able to run there, with all the sidewalks in between being covered with snow, but maybe I could drive us down there and we could run around a few times. This was my plan. Even if it had a little layer of snow on the sidewalks, I thought we'd be okay. I was wrong. I quickly realized that it was all ice. Henri is my little sled dog, but I'm not so keen on being the sled.

I drove home, disappointed. I knew there was some place that would be okay to run. Some streets are dry. Some streets, like ours, is a sheet of ice. I decided we would run in the streets in the neighborhood. We had enough daylight left that I didn't have to worry about cars not seeing us and I could see ice patches. 

It was 19 degrees. I chose not to listen to the weather report while I was on lunch today. I didn't want to hear any more about negative windchill, though I did hear them mention that the winds were down. I, honestly, wasn't cold for a second. Maybe I was just so happy to be running. Henri was excited about our new running route. He was very focused on where we were going. He listened to me when I told him to 'slow' so we could go over potential ice hazards. It wasn't the most relaxing run, but it felt good to be out there.

Am I crazy to strap myself to my dog and go for a run in this weather? Possibly. The cold doesn't bother Henri in the least and 19 degrees felt like a heat wave compared to last week. The ice was concerning, especially with my ankle, but I made it through, even running farther on it without realizing it. I'm not real familiar with all the twists and turns in our neighborhood. I'm actually surprised I found the way home in under 3 miles. The only real obstacle was our street.  Why is our street the worst in the entire neighborhood, maybe the entire town? I mean, it's not a thin layer of ice, it's a thick, rocky tundra! I almost die every time I have to cross the street to the mailbox.