Slogging in Snow

Well, another snow in our area last night.  3-6 inches, schools closed.  Once again a run in my shoes with screws (sorry, I haven't figured out a better way to reference these shows.  'screw shoes' sounds weird...)  VDOT has really picked it up the past few snows.  The first snow of the season, eh, not so good.  But last night's snow, and the snow we had the past weekend, they really did a great job.  My subdivision was pretty clear this morning (down to a nice 'ice' level).  However, the sidewalks (not VDOT's jurisdiction), not at all (why don't the neighbors shovel their walk by 6:00 am?, oh wait, I didn't either!)

I really wanted to run in the snow again.  I had a great time last Saturday, and since I didn't run Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday (oy!) I had to run today.  The first 1.3 miles were on the side streets, which some ice (the screws helped here) plus a lot of slush. Then, I had to run on the side path.  This had last night's snow on it, plus last weekend's snow on it, so I ended up running in fairly deep snow.  My feet would sink in and they *almost* got out of the snow as I lifted up to take the next step.  The end result was a lot of drag in my run.  I went from a 9:10 pace to a 10:30 pace in no time flat.  Plus, I was huffing and puffing within a 1/4 mile of running in the snow.  

About a mile of this, I turned into the hospital parking lot (if anything is plowed, you can count on the hospital, streets *and* sidewalks!) to shake the snow off of my shoes and legs (and bare skin! -- see Note below).  I ran there until I picked up my normal course, and then ran the one mile back home.  So, of the 4.2 miles today, 3.2 was on a street of some sort, and 1 mile was in snow. 

All in all, I would compare this to running on a trail (cushioning, uneven surface), except that there were no hills to speak of.  Plus, with the snow in the trees, it was quite a sight.

Note: when I remember, I slip on some gaiters that I usually reserve for my trail shoes (to keep rocks and things out of my shoes).  They aren't waterproof, but they do a good job keeping large pieces of snow from getting in my shoes.  I forgot them today.  However, they are very reasonably priced, and I highly recommend them.  Check out this site (no, really!): http://www.dirtygirlgaiters.com/ I have the camo ones, but since they are shiny, they are a little girly....