Last Treadmill Run ... Maybe

The weather prediction was for rain and wintry mix this morning. Sure enough, when I got up at 5 AM, it was raining. Too cold for running in the rain so I headed to the YMCA. We're ending our membership in anticipation of moving back overseas in the late summer -- plus, we almost never use the Y anymore. So, this was probably my last treadmill run for awhile. That's no great loss except for days like today when I want/need to run but am not willing to do so outside -- and it has to be nasty for that to happen.

I was bummed when I left the Y, though, because it was snowing. I would have loved to run in the snow! But, even if I had known it was really going to snow, I could not have waited. I ran 4.55 miles and did some treadmill fartleks, bumping the speed up to 8mph several times -- the variety makes the treadmill less tedious.

Run well, y'all,
Bob

Snow Run

I woke up early this morning. I don't know if it was internal excitement about the snow or too much water to drink for supper. Though I would have enjoyed another couple of hours of sleep, I'm glad I woke up because the outside world was beautiful. I estimated about 7" of snow and it was still coming down. I thought about running but decided to wait and see. While it wasn't really dark because of all the reflected light, I just wasn't sure how well I could see -- or, more importantly, how well I could be seen.

By the time I actually went outside to measure, we actually had 9.5" of snow -- I think it's the most snow I've seen in my life (almost 55 years). And, by 9:00, I had decided to see if I could run. I have an old pair of Brooks Adrenaline ASR (somewhat winterized) and decided to wear those to keep my feet a bit drier than my Etonics would do. I also had no idea how close to normal speed I could run, so told my wife not to worry unless I wasn't back by 11:00. Despite slipping and sliding in places and at times feeling like I was going forward only 1' for 2' worth of effort, it was a good run -- 5.1 miles at a 5:24 (I don't know where "5:24" came from -- maybe it was sliding down the hills!) 8:24 mpm pace. Just guessing, but it felt like it was somewhere between 10-20% more difficult than running in dry weather. The picture was taken across the street from our house after I ran -- the whole run looked like that. One guy, who was shoveling his drive, commented that he hoped I had my spikes on!

What fun!

Run well (and safely and dry), y'all,
Bob

Snow on the Equator

Earlier reports said that this freakish weather phenomenom was hail and I think that's much more likely than snow -- the temperature would not have been cold enough for any real snow to accumulate. Even so, it's quite a unique event for Kenya and I can easily imagine the surprise and delight of the Kenyans who saw it:



Run well, y'all,
Bob