The snow would be beautiful if we had somewhere out-of-the-way to put it. Unfortunately, that’s a difficult task in an urban environment, and thus becomes the rationale for much of my half-hearted winter weather frustration. However, more of my concern has always been about inconsistent shoveling. In Iowa, I was on a constant quest to get people to shovel their sidewalks. It might have been required per city code, but it was one of those violations that only became relevant if someone said something. As a general rule of thumb, I assume people are lazy and will wait as long as possible to shovel, and even though do only the bare minimum. It’s too soon to tell if that will be the case in Delaware but I’m not terribly optimistic. The biggest difference seems to be the fact that there simply aren’t many sidewalks in residential neighborhoods to begin with, so I’m relegated to running in the road. I don’t really trust drivers in perfect conditions, let alone inclement conditions. This should be interesting :)
Chasing42 Log: 20160124
Run: The lack of shoveling taking place meant being trapped in my own neighborhood again today, so I logged my miles all within about 1/2 mile from my house. I received some interesting looks from folks but the snow had stopped and I had finished shoveling (for now) so I felt better about my time. My right hamstring seemed to take issue with the subtle changes I made to be gait as I ran on the snow, searching for traction, but some rolling and massaging heals all (ok, maybe most).
Thought: I was listening to a Trail Runner Nation podcast while I was running today, and they were talking about injury recovery and coming back from significant damage (broken leg, torn ACL, etc.). Although I have yet (fingers crossed) to suffer an injury of this magnitude, the discussion still resonated with me. One of the main take-aways was the importance of spending the necessary time to recovery. As runners (especially MUT runners), we are always eager to get out there and will run through quite a bit of pain. It comes with the territory. However, I need to remember how important the behind-the-scenes work is for training. Stretching, rolling, strength-training, and listening to my body are all just as crucial as the high mileage. Those other activities might not give me the same initial satisfaction of logging a few more miles, but that’s just a change in mindset I need to embrace. It’s part of #chasing42!