Day 41 - Calm before the storm

I am like a little kid waiting for it to snow and yes I will be bummed if we don't get the snow that might happen. Being in the mountain with deep snow all around is just a feeling like no other. I was running with a friend the other week and we were talking about anything and everything and skiing came up in the conversation. He said do you like running or skiing better? I replied there is nothing like skiing and no other sport I ever did comes close to it but running in it is close. I only went out skiing a hand full of times in the last couple of years. Time, cost and running got in the way. Right before my wife and I had children I was skiing over 50 days a year. I will get back into it someday since the children are asking more about it. Floating down a trail with a foot or more of powder is amazing and just thinking about I want to go now!

Today on my walk I was thinking about running in the snow that might be arriving tomorrow. Once the snow starts falling I will be out there in it. Last year was a great training year with the deep snow. I did a lot of power hiking because we were forced to until we could run on the trails. The snow was so deep and you had to lift your legs so high. It was a lot of work but it paid off in the spring. I can still remember my friend Dan and I made the first trail to the top at Pulpit Rock in the deep snow about a mile and a half. It took a lot of work to get there. The next day I went up and thought this will be a lot easier since we already had a trail up. I was about half way up the trail and then all the foot prints were filled in with snow due to a lot of wind. So I had to blast through the snow the rest of the way to the top again. Those days were very hard and can’t wait for more of them in the mountain.

Tonight I left the house a couple of minutes before 7 p.m. and had to be back by 8. The temps were in the low 20’s and with no wind it felt surprisingly comfortable out. My legs are feeling ok not great and I thought I would run a little faster then I usually do after a race because I’m not sure what the roads will be like in the next couple of days. Tonight the sides of the roads had some ice and snow – not the best conditions you want to run in on the side of the road. You have to be very careful and watch every step. After moving along the first couple of miles the legs were still felling ok and I kept moving along at a nice pace the rest of the run. I finished with an average pace of 7:53 per mile and I was happy with that. If the snow hits I know that pace won't be seen for a while.

Below are some pictures from one of the big storms from last year I took when I was out for a run. Hopefully I can get more snowy photos soon.



1-10-2011 - 2.8 miles - 38:14 - walk
1-10-2011 - 8 miles - 1:03:04 - run