Snow and Ice and Everything Nice

I really admire the people who go out and run no matter what the weather.  Maybe their area is more mild, or maybe they are just immune to the cold.  Whatever it is, it took a lot of planning and a great deal of willpower for me to go for a run this very frigid January.

 

This is what the trail looked like.  See that dark spot in the middle of the water?  That's a flock of ducks of on the go and geese.  It seemed like a resting spot for them before they continued to migrate.  They were all huddled together, probably sharing body heat.

Just to clarify, this place is a scenic canal by summer, frozen tundra by winter.  I love it because it is normally bustling with people either exercising or just walking their dogs/kids, but in January, it was practically abandoned.

It was an interesting run.  I had waited almost two weeks for this run, choosing the one day where the temperature was in the double digits and it wasn't raining ice pellets.  I knew it was going to be hard to run on ice, but who knew it was so difficult to run on snow?  There was probably only an inch of snow covering the trail, but it felt like I was trying to run through sand.  My legs tired quickly, and I found myself slowing down a lot to catch my breath.  I think my breathing was really compromised by the cold too.  I also kept having the confusing problem of wanting to take off my gloves and hat because I was being too cold and too sweaty all at the same time.

I ran a total of 5.54 miles.  Not too shabby, considering I've been mostly trapped indoors by the polar vortex.

Here's another tangent - I've noticed that if I go over 4 miles, my legs just don't seem to fire right.  I've been carrying a water bottle for longer runs, but I'm wondering if I should try out some sort fuel as well.