Frosty Five with Ketchup

Oohh...That sounded a lot better on my run. So, it's really catch up. I haven't recorded a bunch of my runs, even left off mid-Triffitt run. I loved both halves of that run. Four and a half miles filled with lots of chatter covering all sorts of topics. Soon after exiting the park boundary, we saw evidence of a deer being pursued, tufts of deer hair and some blood. In the gravel pit area we saw a very deconstructed turkey. I would have liked to run the entire beautiful loop with team Snowplug, but I had to be home to get Sam to USM. One of the cool things about running is, that as much as I love running with friends, I love running by myself, especially on trails. So, I really had the best of the best. My 4.5 miles back gave me time to think about how nice Danielle and Ryan are, how trails look so different going the other direction, and all kinds of wild and crazy thoughts.

The snow had really started in earnest during our run, a bit earlier than predicted. I called Sam, expecting to be told classes were canceled. Nope. I drove home, showered, and got back into the car (at least I had 4-wheel drive cause Rick had my car in NJ). We saw 2 cars off the highway on the way down. Driving in Portland proper wasn't any fun. Neither was it fun to find out we'd be heading right back home; classes were canceled once Sam walked into the classroom. Ugh!

Wednesday was a day off. Not a needed one, but I just ran out of time. Thursday I ran at home on the snowmobile trails. I was surprised; they were about as good as winter running gets around here. I enjoyed seven miles. The great conditions made me resent the snow that fell after that. The next day the run was hard. My pace was almost 3 min/mile slower than the day before on the same terrain. Later that night I went back out with Linda and Bethany on snowshoes (they'd just gotten their new Dions).

Saturday was a day off. I drove Ryan and Nori back to Providence after dropping Sam off for his SAT IIs. Thank you, Beth for providing the ride back home.

Sunday. Linda and I bundled up and headed to Bradbury to volunteer for the Bradbury Squall. It was damn cold, but the fun and excitement of the event offset what could have been miserable conditions. Congratulations to Snowman and Ian for hosting such a kick-ass event and to the participants that made it look so fun! Later that day, I got in my own 6+ miles on the snowmobile trails by our house. The wind had picked up a bit so it seemed even colder. I had expected the trails to be better than Friday since there had been lots of snowmobile traffic. They may have been ever so slightly better, but I think the extreme cold kept the snow from packing to firmly. Still it felt good to move.

That brings me, finally, to my frosty five (well, 5.2). The low last night was -16 at our house. I ran when it was nearly at the high of the day, 4 degrees. The wind was not all that fast, but fairly steady. It was cold. Still, with the right clothing, I was starting to unzip after 12 minutes. After 2 miles, I took my mittens off. The zippers would go up and down, mittens on and off, and hood on and off throughout the run. The trails were almost back to their wonderful Thursday conditions.

OK, I noticed some things on the run and have debated reporting. What the hell! I have become accustomed to pee on the trail, but today noticed some that was almost ice-cube like. That totally made me laugh out loud. All I could think of was someone literally peeing ice cubes - kinda like the little penguin on a Bugs Bunny episode that cries ice cubes. I love that episode. Could be cause it mentions Hoboken (where I went to college). I also got a bit of pleasure imagining that it doesn't feel particularly good to pee cubes!