Image by selected pixels via Flickr
It’s been a little rough weather-wise the last few weeks here in the Northeast. First we had a couple of big snowstorms. Now I love snow. Always have, always will. I love looking at it fall, and the way it covers everything. I even enjoy shoveling it.
But I have to admit that at this point in my barefoot running “career” I’m not quite ready for a lot of running in my favorite white stuff. Maybe that will change over time. But for now, when the ground is frozen and/or snow covered, its either my Vibrams or the dreadmill.
Then over the weekend we had an intense rain/wind storm.
Some wind gusts were clocked at over 70 miles per hour. On Sunday morning we awoke to a scene out of a disaster movie.
Every block had major storm damage, from downed trees, to downed powerlines, to damage from debris being blown against buildings.
Most of the town was without power until today. We were very fortunate to have had power for most of that period. But our cable, internet, and phone service was out until this morning.
I stayed home from work on Monday because it was difficult to get to the city around the damage. Then, since I didn’t get my long run in during the weekend, I got up early and did 8.6 miles at 5 am before work. But I couldn’t go barefoot because with the power out in most locations and debris was everywhere so I didn’t want to take any chances.
So when I returned to work today and it turned out to be sunny with temperatures in the 60′s, you KNOW where I spent my lunch hour. And the BEST part? The ground (pavement, concrete, and pavers) along the waterfront was WARM! So I kicked off my Vibrams and did a quick 4 mile run. Oh what a feeling! The feedback from the warm ground is so refreshing and freeing. Even though this was sort of a recovery run I felt like I could have gone another 4 miles easily. But my boss might not have taken that as a good excuse for being late. So I enjoyed the 4 miles while they lasted. Then I slipped on my Injinji recovery sock and my “work” pair of Five Fingers and headed back to the office.
I am SOO looking forward to Spring. My first race (River Edge Run 5K) is in mid-April. Right now I’m trying to decide whether to make it my first truly barefoot race or play it safe and wear the KSOs.
Warm Ground Rocks!
Downtown Runner
(Your Mileage May Vary)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Do it barefoot! I’m still trying to find the right race (and find the courage) to run my first barefoot race. It’ll be sometime this year, that’s for sure.
That tree damage is nuts, I guess wind like that doesn’t happen much up around there? That’s hurricane stuff like we have in Florida.