Another running first: Packed snow

Cross country ski tracks!
(This isn't from my actual run today, but it looks darn similar!)

My cold has finally loosened its grip on me, but unfortunately cabin fever has fully set in. I still have a stuffy head and runny nose, but I had to get out of the house and back on the running plan today. After I saw the local high school's cross country team pass by my house this morning, I took it as a sign to get back out there. Therefore around 1pm I bundled up and headed out to the T.J. Evans Bike Trail. From what I could tell from the road, it looked like the trail may be clear of snow. I parked at the local mill, jumped out and started down the path. As I made it over a little burm and was able to fully see down the trail, I realized that only a small portion of the trail was clear. The rest was fully snow covered. But I had gotten dressed and driven out here, so I was going to run. Once I reached the snow line, I realized that enough folks had traversed the path with their canine companions to leave a small packed trail on the right side of the path. I started out slow with small and deliberate steps. I was about a half mile in and realized that not only was I following the hard pack path, but to the right of me were cross country ski tracks!! That is definitely a first for me. I also saw lats of doggie prints and lots of deer prints. It was actually quite beautiful. I had to pay pretty good attention to each step, so I couldn't do a ton of looking around. But when I did, I realized that while the winter may be long and tough - it is truly beautiful. When I got back to the car then back inside my warm home, I tracked my run on mapmyrun.com. Turns out I did a 3 mile run today. In the snow. With a cold. Maybe I am a runner after all!

Snowmaggedon Part II underway

Living in the midwest means snow. But damn if this is not earth shaking to me. In NC or TX, if it snowed a tiny amount, everything shut down for days. Here, we get 8-10 inches, and after a slight delay to wait for plows, life goes on as normal. This is just pure craziness. We had a good foot or so of snow on Friday of last week, and as I type this, part II is falling from the sky. We managed to get our entire driveway shoveled from the first round, but it appears we will be starting all over again sometime in the next few days. In the meantime, enjoy some photos from my first Ohio winter.