Weather Woes

A few hours of snow in the early morning hours and then pouring rain until mid-afternoon on Monday. So much for a good holiday day to get outside and do something fun. Ugh! Total nastiness and definitely an inside day. Ryan worked all day, I worked a few hours, and then Sam and I did stuff around the house, including going through our clothes to separate out what needed to be donated to Goodwill. Good to get somethings done, but I would much preferred to get in a nice morning trail run and a family walk in the afternoon. Ah well.

Of course, it then immediately got super cold overnight and all the slushy mush turned to solid ice. Add in a really strong wind, and double ugh. I was not risking it on Tuesday morning, so instead I started work early and then left work with time enough to get out at 3:00 for a road run. Headed over to Highland Green, but honestly, it was still fairly sketchy out there with all the ice and wow, I was almost blown over a few times by some serious wind gusts. Yay running?!? (6.0 miles)

The discontent over the weather continued on Wednesday and I honestly just could not motivate to get out in the morning. I was at least able to sneak in a walk around the block after lunch just to get outside. As long as I avoided the sidewalks, there was plenty of traction. (2.0 miles walked)

Which meant that there was no avoiding the early morning run on Thursday 😂😬 And miracle of all miracles, I actually did get up and out by 5:30 am! Ha! Ran up and back on Highland Green. It was a little over freezing, practically balmy! Wore my trail shoes thinking the roads would be slick in those temps, but traction was fine. (6.0 miles)

Still a few festive lights up!

Back to frigid temps by Friday morning, and even starting at 10:30, it was a "feels like" temp of -6! Brrr! But enjoyed the bright sunshine and the company of Anne and Val for a nice tour of Bradbury east side trails. Trails had been groomed by the bikers, meaning a lot of it was nice packed snow, with some ice of course, but way better than any of the trails look around home! Always good to chat and get in some miles with friends 😊 (7.1 miles)

The cold continued overnight and into Saturday morning, so I decided to stick to the roads as it meant I could head out later and still get back in time to get Sam up to the Y for her swim meet. Thankfully not windy and sunny and bright, but still a "feels like" temp of -7. The edges of the roads were fine but man, the sidewalks are rather deadly right now. Definitely not ideal. (8.1 miles)

Sam had a great meet. She is really getting so much stronger and it has been fun to watch! Still, we both admit that we are more than happy to watch via the livestream due to spectator restrictions. Honestly, just so much nicer than sitting in the hot, loud pool area for hours on end!

This morning, I decided to check out the Cathance and see how the river and trails were looking. There were some really nice stretches of packed snow but there was also a lot of bare ground, fairly runnable ice, and then some really slick newer ice that was most sketchy. The river was pretty though with all the ice formations. (8.0 miles)

Couldn't get closer due to the ice slicks but ice pancakes! 

Yes, that is the trail...😱

After lunch, Sam and I headed over to Fielder's Choice for a mid-January ice cream! Yum! I mean, it was in the 20s, perfect ice cream weather, right?! 😂 

Then I dropped her off at Anne's for some outside play and time spent down exploring along the frozen stream at the edge of their yard, and headed out for a walk to wrap up the weekend. Figured I might as well get out and enjoy the relatively warm weather and late afternoon sunshine, and work towards my goal of 2-3 weekly walks. (2.0 miles walked)

Meanwhile, Gigi was comfy cozy hiding under our covers 😻