Running on Ice

The key factor for getting myself out of bed to run yesterday morning was the temperature. I regrettably stayed up until midnight watching a movie and woke to my alarm at 5:15. I was very tired, and if the temperature had been 10 degrees or colder I probably would have text Bryan with some lame excuse. However, warmer weather seems to boost my spirits as the dreaded coldness seems to never end when spring nears.

I was overjoyed to go to bed with the temperature at 33 degrees and I knew the high for Tuesday was supposed to be near 40 (above zero), sweet glory! Although my eye lids were heavy I managed to get out the door, and that meant I was committed. Very quickly I came to realize that it had rained during the night and our run was going to be a difficult one. My first few test steps were slippery and I jerked my body to stay vertical. So I carefully started running to the meet point and assessed the roads a little closer with each stride. Thinking about it now I guess there was a second where I thought running on ice was a bad idea. It just seemed too silly of an excuse to use. I mean really, how many miles have I done in the last two weeks? 17 I think, and that’s just unacceptable with the half marathon almost two months away. I grew impatient and ran another block down 1st Street to meet Bryan. It seemed to be the iciest street in town and when I use the word icy I mean glare ice from snowy shoulder to snowy shoulder. After trying to run west out of town we determined that the safest route was up and down the main drag on any snow our shoes could find traction on. Besides if I was going to fall I’d rather it be in town where the roads are lit and I’m not mistaken for a dead animal (I wear all black). However, running five blocks and turning back gets boring really fast and so we cut the run short. My lower back was sore all day which I assumed was from trying to catch myself on the ice so I regret trying to run at all that morning. To make up for some lost miles we put in another 3 last night and the roads were ice free. I was told we had to stay off gravel and out of slush and puddles. Why? Well Bryan was wearing his new absurdly white running shoes and didn’t want them to get wet and/or dirty. For the record he won’t take shoe precautions again but he wanted his first run to be “clean”. The new shoe excitement seems absurd but it’s one motivator that’s probably in a runners top 3. So moral of this blog is…if it’s icy just wait until the ice melts. Simple!