Day 41: SNOW!

From Me and the Road

Date: 2/10/09

Consecutive Days Run: 41

Runner: Brandon Wood

Shoes: La Sportiva Wildcat GTX

Location: New York, NY

Type of Run: Quick and snowy

Time of Day: 5:17 PM EST

Distance Run: 2.81 miles

Time Run: 00:26:05

Average Pace: 9:17 per mile

Weather Conditions: Cold (31 degrees Fahrenheit), Snowing, Wind

Disposition: Good, Excited

Link to Run Detail: Today the snow came. The East coast welcome a brutal Nor’easter that brought with it blizzard conditions. I have been watching this storm coming ever since the disappointing lack of snow from last weekend. I know that some may abhor the snow, and I’m sure that if the white stuff chose to park itself on top of us all winter, I might feel a bit different. However, as it is, I adore snow and I could not have been more excited to go and run, mid-blizzard.

I left my building and stepped into a beautiful world of white. To my delight, my Garmin had picked up a signal and seemed to be in fine working order. I stepped to the sidewalk and went. Most of the sidewalks were fairly clear, and the snow that covered everything was a very heavy, packed snow. I decided to go on my normal two mile loop which turned out to be very snowy, but again, not so hard to run due to it being fairly packed. My pace was significantly slower than it normally is because, even though the snow was packed, with each step my feet would slip back a bit.

About .8 miles into my run, I decided to head up into the hills of Inwood Hill Park. It was absolutely incredible. While the snow was looser and far deeper than it had been. The trees in the trails were heavy with snow and many hung into the paths I ran. The wind seemed to be constantly in my face and I had a hard time seeing where I was going, regardless of my Black Diamond Sprinter headlamp. This is not a knock to the headlamp, but rather a testament to the winds that buffeted me as I ran.

Running the snowy hills was so much fun and I wish I could do it more. It was definitely a much harder leg workout than I am used to simply because of having to be aware of every step and because of each step being cut if half when the snow slipped away. I really do hope we get some more snow!