Questionable Determination

As I am still questioning whether or not I'll get to do my weekend long run outside, I was bound and determined for today's, at least, to be in the fresh air! With only three miles to go and a reasonably cleared neighborhood, you'd think that would be a doable task. Right?

Elly and I weren't even off our driveway when I reconsidered the wisdom of my determination. A little something called black ice was present, and both of us slipped before even getting to the street. But, I wanted to at least check out the situation before going back inside. Besides, with Elly already on the leash, it was good to give her even a very short walk rather than confuse the beast who cannot reason through a change in plans!

Once in the street, everything seemed to be in thirds: a third covered in snow; a third clearly dry, and a third in question. Of course, those lines weren't clean nor linear (nor always convenient especially when you're on the same dry spot where a bus also wants to pass as I found out, just sayin'), but I felt I could see enough to go forth with the outside plan!

As cars made their way down the narrowed streets, I often had the following choice for footing:

You guessed it ... I went in the tire track when a car wanted to
pass because all of that on the left is ice, ice, baby ...

Only one time in the three miles did I substantially slip. I caught myself on my hand with my pooch immediately to my side in concern because she could go no farther as I still had her leash. Elly and I were even walking through that stretch because the drainage of the area made the slick issue very clear. Oh, and, by "walking" I mean "shuffling." That shuffle saved me from a major wipe out!

For all of the attention required of the road, there were still excellent, wintery sites to see along the way. For instance:

Well, this isn't really excellent for the car owner, but there's still
something intriguing about a car buried in snow, isn't there?

And, we saw snow friends:

Nicely done with the full-on carrot decor.

Great use of those spikey things for eyes.
You know the ones ... the ones that kill
when your lawn mower spits 'em at you.

And, my favorite. The one with hair.
PC#2 made it, so it's my double favorite.

Before heading inside, Elly got herself a little taste of the good stuff:

"I'd deny it, mommy, but the evidence didn't melt off my nose
fast enough."

And, recently, Aaron told me he saw a runner pick up a water bottle that clearly had been stashed for his later use at a corner in our neighborhood. I adapted such an idea for my own use:


Water is for during; Diet Coke is for after. Ahhh ... yum!
Besides, I found a penny where I bought this for my post-run
pleasure. My money finding has taken a hit with this snow and
inside runs, so finding that helped my world realign!

Once inside, Elly ran to tell the kitties of our adventures, and they listened very attentively:

"Oh, really? You went outside and ran where it's freezing cold
and ate snow while we were cozy in here and not doing a thing?
Wowwww ... sounds greaaaaat ..."

And, then, they watched as Elly trotted off.

"Seriously. She's so stupid."

I'm pretty certain the continued overnight temperatures are going to force another weekend treadmill run. While I'm not excited about that, I'm less excited about the possibility of hitting the right patch of ice the very, wrong way and really hurting myself. The Half is only 5 weekends away! This is not the time to do some damage. Wait ... it's never the time to do damage, but particularly not when I've already paid for the run! (Besides, can I tell you how much it hurt my brain to be on the constant lookout for maybe-maybe-not ice?! It's exhausting.)

Two days of Rest sound great to me! They're not going to be restful, though ... not with this snow and with the awesome sledding route we've made!! However I slice it, I plan for it to be fun! See you on tomorrow's Rest Day!