Ice and Snow

About two inches of snow covered most of the ground when I went out to run yesterday. I scooped up a handful just to see how it felt.  Above about two inches of soft, fluffy white stuff was a very thin layer of ice crystals, as if someone had sprinkled salt atop the snow except the crystals didn't melt.  The sleet hadn't yet turned to a layer of ice, it just lay in crystals atop the snow. Blades of grass peeked through the snow at random intervals.  The temperature was 29 degrees.

Ice occasionally stung our bare faces as we ran the on track.  The first couple laps were sloshing through snow.  But that snow quickly packed into slippery slush with each additional lap around the track.  For the last two or three laps of our three mile run we were seeking fresh snow, and a bit wider circle, to run on, as it was too slippery to run the same path.

As we ran I watched about 6 to 10 children sliding on inflatable saucers down the hill between the track and the middle school.  From the excited shouts and laughter, I think they enjoyed sledding more we enjoyed trying to run. Perhaps we would have better spent our time having joined them!

I tracked time only to help me count laps; and I did record my time -- 35 minutes for 3 miles.  But it WAS a workout. My calves and thighs are a bit sore from the effort.  Something about running on snow and slush causes muscles to be worked and pulled differently from a normal run.