And as most Virginians are wont to do, everyone freaked the hell out.
Seeing as how I am not a Virginian, I did not freak out. Instead, when our office closed early at 3 pm, I texted Greg.
"Snow run???????"
As you will recall, I recently wrote about how I do not do cold rain, but I happily do snow. And here was my opportunity!
I'm not sure why I love running in the snow. Maybe it has to do with my training experience for the first race I ever ran - Monument Avenue 10k. It was 2010, and training started in January. It was an unusually cold and snowy winter, and my 3rd or 4th run with the YMCA training team was in a full on snow storm. Somehow, running in the snow wasn't as tedious as chugging down the sidewalk along Route 10 in the ugly, dry cold.
When I was finally able to convince Greg and his buddy Diallo to meet me at the vita course, I was on cloud 9. I headed to the bathroom at work to change into my running clothes while everyone else was headed out.
"You know we are closing at 3, right?" asked a coworker as I marched up the stairs.
"Yep! I'm just changing into my running clothes!"
She looked at me like I was crazy.
You know, one of those CRAZY runner types that I once declared I would never be.
Anyhow, as I changed I got to the point where my socks need to go on and realized that I had forgotten to pack socks. Of all the days in the world to forget socks! Luckily I had worn a pair of pink argyle socks to work. They looked especially ridiculous pulled up over my running tights, which seemed to make the whole snow running thing a lot more fun and crazy feeling.
The run itself was spectacular. There was only one other crazy soul on the vita course other than Greg, Diallo, and myself. The three of us set off at a leisurely(ish) pace that picked up with every passing mile. We ended up with all negative splits.
I think that happened because we were literally thawing ourselves out the longer we ran. By the end, not a single part of me was cold.
What is it about snow that makes everything feel fresh, wonderful, and exciting? Forget the fact that my snot was freezing to my face and I couldn't feel my toes - I was having a blast. I loved hearing the snow crunch under my shoes, feeling the snowflakes gathering on my eyelashes, and enjoying the eerie quite that seems to descend on the world when it snows.
I was sorry when our 4 miles were up, and even more sorry to have to get in my car to make the long drive home.
But really I was feeling so lucky that I my foot is healed and I was able to have this running experience.
Snow running. It's freaking awesome.
Yayy sounds like you had a wonderful run! I wonder if I passed by you when I was on my little jaunt. Although I think I may have been out a little earlier than you were, but I did run in that direction past the Vita Course!
ReplyDeleteI was going to admit to being guilty of both of your beliefs in the most recent “Things I believe” post. But I really hadn’t ever worn my watch outside of my sleeve before until I went for an AWESOME snow run yesterday and forgot my gloves. I’ve was guilty of the admittedly ridiculous sock/sandals thing a long time ago. But not until mile 5 yesterday’s run when I couldn’t feel my fingers (or use them for that matter) and was forced to pull my hands up into my sleeves was I guilty of the watch/sleeve belief. Now I’m guilty of both. But it was totally worth it. Yesterday’s snow run might be my overall favorite run to date. Happy Training.
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