Snow??? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Snow!

Well, actually I did take advantage of the snow.  But then it took advantage of me.

On Tuesday, I had one of those "hate this, but glad I did it workouts."  Instead of working against the snow, I decided to work with it.  Went to Sunken Meadow for a "Snow Duathlon".  I figured I would get a run in on my snow shoes before setting out on what was quickly becoming "yet another" loop out to the golf course.

A freezing rain was falling as I set out from the east parking lot through snow that could be best described as wet mashed potatoes.  By the time I had gone 200 yds, my lungs were burning, my thighs were barking and every step felt like I had a 10 pound weight attached to my foot.  Luckily, by the time I hit the moat trail, the snow was a bit more packed down and I was able to settle into a rhythm.  I did a loop into the picnic area, up Cardiac Hill and then took the longer back trail around to the picnic area and back along the moat trail again.  By the time I got back to my car - through 200 yards of mashed potatoes again - I felt as though I had run 10 miles.  Total time was 25 minutes.

I offloaded the snow shoes into the trunk of my car and set off for the golf course.  Talk about a difference!  Felt like I had shed my heavy snow boots for bedroom slippers.  Conditions were still miserable...by this time I was pretty soaked through.  But I finished the loop and hopped back into the warmth of my car.  I thought about taking a detour up to the tollbooth, but figured I would come back Wednesday and do repeats and try to keep from getting burned out on Sunken Meadow three weeks into training.

So Wednesday came and I headed back to Sunken Meadow to do those repeats.  I planned on doing 4 of them...that's about 6 miles in total, half up a steep climb.  It's another one of those "hate it/love it" workouts. Turns out, I'll do anything to get out of doing it, including inflicting $800 of damage to my car.  The Jetta started sliding on the ice on the little-used entrance ramp to SM, and my left wheels smacked against the curb.  I tried to drive it away, but it was a little like driving a bumper car.  You can turn the wheel and maybe the car would turn.  Or maybe it wouldn't.  My left front wheel was clearly out of alignment.  I called for a tow and spent the time waiting by doing a quick run down into Sunken Meadow and back up again.  By the time I got back, it was only another 5 minutes until the tow came, and Samantha, taking pity on me, met me with a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee.  Got a tow to the service station, got the front wheel fixed, only to learn there's damage to the rear  - "It's OK to drive if you don't mind the noise".  Yeah I mind it, need a new bearing.  Bit of a bust when it comes to running for the day too.

Today, without reliable transportation, I was forced to stay home.  The roads are still a bit dicey, not so much the surface, but the narrowness and ability to dodge oncoming traffic.  I figured I would go across the street into Makamah and see what the trail was like.  I figured it was probably trampled and hopefully runnable.

And it was.  Sure it was clunky and chunky and frozen into a morass of divots and wrinkles and ankle-twisting bumps and ridges.  But I was able to get around Ok and I was back in the woods where I am happiest.  I took the sidetrip out to Makamah Road, down to the beach and then back via Hayes Hill Rd.  Didn't pass a single car.   Back into the woods again for my return trip home.  Successfully avoided falling or twisting my ankle and very happy to have this option available to me.

Tonight's snow could have something to say about that though...here we go again!

78 miles down, 422 to go...