With the consistent and significant snowfall and longer-than-usual stretches of bitter cold that the Denver metro area has experienced this winter, running outside has proven to be more challenging than in past years.
Trails have been snow-packed for weeks and the surface has varied from soft or firm, to knobby, gnarled, and slick. Sidewalks still have patches of ice and snowpack along them and intersections still have mounds of snow and\/or large ice-water puddles. Keeping a steady pace is not reasonable as I have to periodically slow down, navigate a slick\/icy patch, and then pick it back up. Apparently, snow and ice don\u2019t melt quickly off of synthetic track surfaces as I went to the local middle school to run a few laps on theirs and it still had a few inches of snow. With all of these obstacles, yesterday I decided it was a good time to throw my usual routes out the window and try something different.
99% of the times I run, I pick a distance and route ahead of time and I go with it. Heading out with an unknown distance and route is very, very unusual. I\u2019d covered a decent part of the route I chose in the past so it wasn\u2019t all new. However, I didn\u2019t map it out ahead of time for the total distance or for the exact route so it would be a surprise in terms of distance and how I would cover the middle portion.
I wanted to cover six miles and when I got to three, I hesitated. I’d already done a chunk of the run over an unfamiliar trail. I had two options: consider it adventurous enough and head back home the way I came, or continue into new territory, gradually heading in the direction I needed to go by going over new ground and through unfamiliar sections of town for a bit longer. While I didn\u2019t know exactly how I would get back to the main road or how long it would take me, I chose to continue the new route.
Logically, I knew the geography and layout of the area so by no stretch of the imagination was this a daring feat of exploration. And, it was a little fun to head into a new section of town without fully knowing where I would go. I found my way through a couple of neighborhoods, looped back to the main road, and then all was familiar.
If you\u2019re trying new areas, obviously you don\u2019t want to put yourself in an unpleasant situation, including adding on lots of extra miles you hadn’t planned on. But, I\u2019d like to think that if there\u2019s a reasonable opportunity to do so, it\u2019s at least good preparation for the unexpected things that will undoubtedly creep up in races. Maybe it\u2019s also a healthy way to keep your running brain alert and engaged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the consistent and significant snowfall and longer-than-usual stretches of bitter cold that the Denver metro area has experienced this winter, running outside has proven to be more challenging than in past years. Trails have been snow-packed for weeks and the surface has varied from soft or firm, to knobby, gnarled, and slick. Sidewalks still … <\/p>\n