Day 348

Saturday: 5 miles in the snow and wind with the dog. No problem.
Today: 0.25ish miles in the salty greasy slush and wind with the dog. Problem!

Why do they put salt and grit on the rec path? It's winter and supposed to be snowy and icy. It's good that they clear it somewhat--I can run by the river if I want to experience uncleared snow--but the salt and grit seem unnecessary.

I set off in my new shoes but the path was clearer than I'd expected. It was damp; it was -8C, but the salt had melted the snow to slush. The dog faltered after a few minutes and we turned around. His feet are slightly webbed and the slush sticks and packs in between his toes. It's not comfortable for him. There wasn't enough snow/slush to make his booties comfortable so they weren't an option either.

We went back to the house, I dried him off and switched my new shoes for a more worn pair. I don't want to wear my new ones out. They are for snow.

Sunday, part two: 12.27 miles in 2:03. I had some snowy stretches (arboretum, river)which were pretty slow, but most of the run was on a thin layer of greasy slush. It was ok, I guess. I wish that it was snow, though, so that I could have taken my dog for an honest outing.

It was a tiring run and didn't yield much in the way of neurotransmitters, or pleasure, or novelty, or beauty. Rather discomfort and boredom, mostly. I'm pleased that I got through it, at least. I was wavering about it, but set my mind to half hour intervals, and got through each of them.

And thus ends my last hard week! I still have one more daunting workout, 1200M repeats, and since I won't be able to go to run club, I will have to do them alone. That doesn't seem too bad.