Harsh Weather - Excellent :D

I was bummed when the weather was for freezing rain; I really wanted to run with the Squirrel and Xar at Brad.  Even though the National Weather Service had 100% chance, I held out hope.  That is till I woke up.  The trees had a light coating of ice built up already.  The driveway was icy, but at least it was a bumpy.  Linda's light was on.  I ever so carefully crossed the drive to have coffee and catch up with Linda.  By the time I headed home, the bumps were filling in.  It was getting much slicker.  I emailed Squirrel.  This Scout was going no where.  Xar checked in right after.

Looking at the radar, Rick thought there might be a lull in the precipitation around 9ish.  I figured I'd get a few chores done, then head out with Piper.  The lull never materialized, but I figured it could always get worse; might as well go.

I couldn't run down the driveway; it was just too slick.  Instead, Piper and I ran right through the crusty snow.  The plan was to cross over near the bridge then head to the back fields.  Just after the pond, there were tracks from Linda's grandkids' four wheeler.  Whoa!  I should have screwed my shoes.  Back to the untouched snow.  It wasn't long till I reached the snowmobile tracks.  The added texture made them a bit less slippery.  It was a little hard on the feet, but definitely runnable.  Piper?  I called her.  She came into view and I kept on.

I realized Piper wasn't running out ahead, but lagging behind.  Poor thing, her paws were struggling on the hard ice.  I knew it was unfair to her to keep going.  We retraced our path.  In just the few minutes we'd been out, it was already more dicey.  She slowed more.  By the time I dropped her off, my Garmin said we'd gone 1.6 miles.  OK, no Squirrel, no Xar, now no Piper.  Hmmmm, I decided to run with my camera.  I'd forgotten how much I like running with it. 

By the time I reached the snowmobile tracks, they were too slippery to use.  Back to the virgin snow.  It was more work for sure, but I wasn't going to end up on my ass.  Every blade of grass, every weed, every branch looked special in its ice shell.  My camera hand froze, but I didn't care.

The deer had drawn a huge heart for me with their footprints.  Not using the snowmobile tracks, I could run anywhere.  Every now and then, I'd smile at the world.  It was rough and beautiful.  I loved the contrast.  I loved that I was out there in the nastiness.

The little river was thawed or at least too risky to try.  I decided to run over to the hill across the street.  Yikes!  Now the crust was getting so thick that my ankles were getting beaten up.  I was sure they were going to be bloody.  It didn't take me very long to develop a new technique.  With some high stepping, I was able to withdraw my foot without hitting the edges.  This was even more tiring.  My arms were getting really cold.  Someone in my head said I really would be smart to head back.  I smiled as I kept going.  My reward was the path to the beaver trail was no so crusty or deep.  The trees must have protected the snow mobile tracks.  Sweet.

Then it was time to get back.  With all my picture taking, my 6 miles was stretching into an hour and 40 minute run.  I had cold arms, hands, and a bit of a sore back.  Back in the house, I stripped off the wet clothes, put on warm ones, ate lunch, uploaded my pics to FB, then took a 3 hour nap.  I love winter adventures!