Time To Get Back Out On The Streets

March 4, 2013

Today I am 198.6 pound of rolling thunder.

Wow, what a difference a week away from running can make, and boy am I glad to be back out on the roads even if I am the world's slowest human.

No matter how many miles you spin on a stationary bike or shushes you make on the NordicTrack, a basement workout just isn't the same as running on the streets. Sure it's good to get your heart rate up and your body moving, but you just don't seem to get that same deep-down sweat riding the stationary bike that you do when you run outside.

In the past week and a half we've had more than 25 inches of snow. The snowplows have done a great job of moving the snow off the roads and depositing the drifts onto the neighborhood sidewalks. As a result, today's run was more of an adventure than a flat out job.

While I don't mind running in the road, I'd much rather be on the safe confines of the sidewalk. Most motorists are polite about yielding to an oncoming pedestrian who has been forced to take to the asphalt since the sidewalks are knee deep in snow. Still, the deposits of plowed snow along the edges of the road make passing narrow and tests the patience of motorists.

My neighborhood requires homeowners to shovel their sidewalks. Unfortunately, this was the first day for enforcement, and I can't really blame most people for not getting out and making the effort. The snow on most sidewalks is still at least a foot deep in many locations.

As a result, today's run took on an obstacle course quality. I'd for a long stretch on open road, then skip to the sidewalk or duck into a side road to let traffic pass. The result was kind of a stop and start adventure, but I was glad the skies were sunny and the temperature was mild.

When I finally made it to the last hill of my run, it came on a busy street so I was constantly on the lookout for sidewalks to escape onto. Perhaps the most interesting part was running through the narrow paths that had been cut through drifts that were piled nearly 3-feet deep. It was how I imagine an average winter run in snowy Minnesota or Buffalo might be.

Still, it was great to get out of the basement and back on the open road. It sounds like the weather is finally starting to make its turn toward spring, so temperatures should go up and the snow down.

Snow or no snow, if you see the world's slowest human out running, give me a wave.

There's No Business Like Snow Business

Dec. 21, 2012

There might be no business like snow business, but for runners, Day 2 of snow can go from fun to tromp around in too dangerous to navigate, in a big hurry.

So yesterday's excuses to ride the spin bike as cross-training gave way today to an adventure out onto the mean streets of the neighborhood. That and a drop in the wind and a sun-shiny day made for a perfect opportunity to get back outside.

Now normally I'm not a road runner. I'm content to traverse the sidewalks of my neighborhood. I have just never seen the point of running out on the road with the cars.

Yes, I've heard the arguments that it's softer and smoother to run on asphalt rather than on the concrete of the sidewalk, but normally I'm not buying it.

Plus, most of the road runners I see are out there moving with traffic or so far toward the middle of the road that they are in danger of being hit by an oncoming car. And don't get me started about people who run side by side.

Today was all about breaking the rules and living dangerously. Somehow the Earth had been spared the Mayan's prediction of a sudden end, so playing out of bounds seemed more like the order of the day than some rogue act normally reserved for miscreants.

That, and the fact that if I tried to do my normal loop on the sidewalks I could rest assured that a trip to the emergency room would somehow be involved.

After 2 or 3 inches of snow fell on Thursday most of the sidewalks were still caked with moisture. I was going to call it the white stuff, but by Day 2, it was more like the gray stuff, or the salt and pepper stuff.

Most of the snow was layered over a covering of ice that made the going a little treacherous. I've always had a fair respect for black ice, or that invisible slippery layer that can coat sidewalks and roads and make them extremely slippery.

So I set off on a road run, hop-scotching my way back and forth between open stretches of clean sidewalk and portions of roadway adjacent to the ice-covered sidewalk.

This method worked fairly well. At least until I got onto busy roads where leaving the sidewalk was no longer an option. Then it was a matter of looking for safe spots, running on the snow covered grass or slowing to a walk to get through icy patches.

But like I always say, a day you get to run is always a good day. The crunching of the ice and snow under my feet seemed to make the time fly, and I made it around the loop without falling.

And the biggest plus of all, we made it by the Mayan deadline without vaporizing.

So tomorrow, if you see the world's slowest human out running, give me a wave -- it's almost Christmas, you know!

Let's Hear It For A Snow Day!

Dec. 20, 2012

With only one day left of the world as we know it, this could be a make or break blog update.

Say something profound, and whatever or whoever comes next will remember you in legendary tones. Just plop something down in the blogosphere, and you end up just another Webizen swept up by the the fallout from the end of the Mayan calendar.

The great thing is it's a snow day.

So if you were all set to take those high school finals today, never mind. First, it's a snow day. Second, the world will be coming to an end. So you might as well while away the final few hours by playing some video games.

Me, I'm not setting foot outside. Baby, it's cold outside. And windy. And slick. And ... (insert your own excuse here). And who wants to risk killing themselves with so few hours left for the world.

I'm just glad someone at our house was brave enough to get up and put on their jammie pants and jacket and head out into the cold and wind and get those front steps shoveled off. You wouldn't want the mail man slipping and falling on the last day of the Earth as we know it.

My guess is the sun will break out soon and well be back in the running business before we know it. Besides, this is a good excuse to jump on the spin bike, watch some History channel, and get ready for a little work from home action.

Today's Runner's World quote of the day comes from

Peter Magill, 2010 USA Masters 5K champion  

"No one is born a perfect runner. And none of us will become one. But through incremental steps, we can become better runners. And that's the beauty of our sport: There are no shortcuts, nothing is given to us; we earn every mile, and we earn every result."

So if we're all still around on Friday, I'll hopefully be a better runner and blogger. Good luck all!

Peter Magill, 2010 USA Masters 5K champion