River Road

I say I love running, and believe me I do. But when it's below freezing outside and a trip to the gym is out of the question (because it takes a half-hour to there and back, round trip. Not to mention the working out part, and when your breastfeeding the optimal time for a jog is when you're boobs aren't swollen with milk ready to squirt out at even the thought of your newborn) its a little hard to get motivated. But if I want to run, I must run outside. It's the only way I have time.

So for the past few weeks since I gave birth to my daughter Sophie, I've been bundling up and running outside. Winter running tests even the most die-hard runners. There's not much to like about snowbank-narrowed roads, slippery footing, frozen cheeks, the piercing intake of each cold breath or the constantly runny nose that leaves frozen white streaks when you wipe it on your glove finger--I've tried snot rockets with little success; something to do with the cold air that slows their speed and changes their trajectory so that they land, not on the ground behind, but somewhere along the sleeve of your jacket. Nice.

Despite all these deterring details, I have found that I actually am enjoying winter running. Part of its the pride factor: "I'm out here and you're not." But more than anything its the beauty of the winter landscape that attracts me (once you get off those sand and salt muddied roads). My run yesterday took me down a quiet, dead-end street known as River Road; aptly named for the small river that runs parallel to it. It was quiet and all I could hear was the crunch of my sneakers on the snow and the rush of the water under ice-crust of the river. I forgot about my cold nose and the growing ice-cream headache across my brow; this is how winter was meant to be enjoyed.

Run: River Rd.

Time: 26:37

Distance: not keeping track yet:-)