Snowy Morning Jan 2014
Okay, I will admit it. I don’t relish getting out and running in the snow. As I comb through my newsfeed on Facebook I am faced with dozens of posts from well meaning businesses that encourage runners to brag about getting out, no matter what the weather but, honestly, I am a fair weather runner.
Mind you, I don’t race back home from a run if it starts to rain or flurry but if I wake up in the morning and it is snowing, I comfortably opt for a morning in my chair reading and writing about my favorite pastime-running. I have gotten to a point in my life where I don’t need to compete in the “look what extreme thing I did today” world. No, I am more in the “I want to run for years and years and not risk a silly injury due to hidden ice patches under newly fallen snow” phase.
We don’t live in an area where sidewalks are a priority…if they exist at all. The town where I grew up in there was, and still is, a law that sidewalks in front of a house or business must be shoveled. Not true on Cape Cod. Our sidewalks are ancient cow trails or bike paths and there is no priority to keep them clean and useful for pedestrians. So to decide to run is a decision to take your life in your own hands. And, quite frankly, while I love to run, it is not worth dying for!
I’d like to say that on these snowy mornings I rally to the gym (if it is even open) but, again, I am more likely to cozy up in my chair and watch the delicate flakes pile up and make our neighborhood look like a Currier & Ives scene. I will chose shoveling as my exercise today (which always becomes a brisk workout in itself). I am okay with not heading to the gym because when I do get there for a workout I will give it my all and I am comfortable in my progress and success.
So let it snow and I will enjoy it for what it is and, running, yeah, I will do that tomorrow!