Plowing Through

Today, I’m supposed to run 15 miles. We got a lot of snow, yesterday, and as of Friday evening, almost the whole 8 mile running route was plowed, and clear. But it started to snow a “wintry mix” late last night, and it is still coming down. Some if melts on the street, but there is some slushy buildup. At first I thought I might have 3-4 people running with me for various distances, but injury, schedule and weather kept everyone away but Alan. He gets to my house about 7:15, and we head out. Lots of snow pack on the streets right by my house, but when we get to a busier (but still residential street, it is better). Where cars have recently driven, there is not so much snow.
But we have to move over for traffic a lot, and while we are only running in less than 1 inch of show, it is either grainy like sand, or slushy like oil. We stick to the more heavily travelled streets, because it seems like the Village plows and salts those more. But there is no sign of any of that being done over that last 2 days. It really seems up to the traffic to dissipate the snow. After about 8 miles, it is really wearing on us, even though we are on flat terrain. Alan’s knee starts to hurt, and it sounds like an Ilio-tibial band issue. There isn’t even a spot to stand to the side and stretch, because you don’t have dry ground to plant your foot. When we come within a half mile of our starting point at my house, Alan opts to cut his run short, even though we have about 3 miles to go. I finish by running on a busy street, which is somewhat clearer, but very hilly. It’s hard to keep the pace, and that lastb half mile to my house in SOME OF THE MOST UNPLOWED STREETS IN MY TOWN is grueling.
I usually don’t take ice baths until my runs get above 16 miles, but I decide that today would be a good day to take one. I also drive 20 miles in the increasing snowstorm to buy Yak-Trax, so I can cope with running in the snow. They only have one left in medium, so I call Alan, and he says put one on order for him.