Tough Day, Great Run

It was a long day driving two orders to the Poconos for work.  The morning one was a real pain because it was snowing.  I knew running in the snow after it would be a mess, so I got very frustrated.  I thought this might be my second zero day in a row, as I was busy for work on Monday too and missed running with Tom later on.

Finally, the snow cleared up late in the afternoon and I got out there.  I wasn't going to be able to do the mileage that I wanted to, but I needed a run, any run.  I decided to run the snow covered roads in the neighborhoods around here.

As usual, the weather was crap.  It seems like it never gets out of the 20s anymore.  I had the usual gear plus my fleece vest.  I've also started throwing shorts over my long pants for an added layer of protect.


I saw my neighbor walking her dog in the beginning and a lot people were out shoveling.  I started with a loop around my neighborhood.  One guy down the street joked with me that I should help him shovel for the exercise. 

After the mile loop, I headed across the highway from the school.  I decided on a short loop to get some distance.  This is a newer section of the neighborhood.  I was very grateful to find a strip of clear road amongst the snow.  The strip seemed to go on pretty long too.  I was thankful for that.  The snowy parts of the road were very slippery.

I was debating whether or not to do this short loop.  Instead, I went out and back on a nearby section.  That is because this had a clear strip.  I got out to mile 2.5.  It was good to be halfway done.  I even went uphill, but didn't mind because I wasn't slipping and sliding.  I saw why this was clear though as several cars drove by me.

By the time I got back to the school, I was over 3.5 miles.  I thought about going in a different neighborhood, but would've had to pass a guy walking his dog.  I did a couple short loops around the school playground, because it was plowed.  That got boring quickly.

I ran a partial loop around my neighborhood and then another smaller loop to finish up.  Even though I didn't accomplish much in the run, it allowed me to recharge and get ready for the remainder of the day.  I thought of those Snickers "you're not you when you're hungry" commercials.  That was so me today, only replace hunger with running.  I was bitching to a friend right before the run.

Tomorrow I have morning and night orders again.  Hopefully I'll have more free time and can run longer in the afternoon.  I'd like to do 15 miles.  I guess I won't be doing as much as I hoped because work is so busy this week.  Instead, I'll use this as a cutback week.  It really isn't a bad idea after 2 weeks of 70 miles each.

5 miles - 41:47 (8:21 pace)