Bare Ground! But Barely...

I went to the Commons for this morning's run. This was partly to mix things up and partly because I was hoping against hope that there would be some bare ground out there. Certain sections of the trail system get a fair amount of sun, so I figured if there was any chance of running on dirt/mud, it would be in the Commons. I was sad, although not totally unsurprised, to find that there was still a fair amount of snow out there. The main trails are pretty well packed, although there was an inch or two of loose granular on top to slosh around in. There is also a fair amount of ice. I did manage to find two short - very short, as in a few strides each - stretches of bare ground. It felt great to have my shoes land softly on the ground, instead of slip slide away in the snow, even if only for a few steps! As you can tell, spring is on my mind... I'd like to get a few runs in on the dirt before the Merrimack River 10 Miler, at least. Luckily, there are still a few weeks left between now and then, so I'll keep hoping :-)