i love running in the snow!
as most of you know , i m not a fast runner. i don’t usually beat very many people in the races i enter. i’m thrilled if i’m in the top 50%. therefore, i rarely ever really feel like a runner when i talk about the speed at which i run. i know people who can speed walk faster than i can run. while i don’t run very fast i am very committed to running. this is why i love to run when it is raining or snowing. the uncomfortable times are when other people usually will not run and therefore i usually feel like a real runner for being committed enough to run even though the environment isn’t very conducive for a positive running experience. it’s times like this when i feel like a real runner.
since we had a storm moving in last night (in fact A BIG STORM) i couldn’t miss the chance to run right when the snow began. i went to the plover river trail to run on it before the snow got high enough for cross country skiing (the point area has the best trail system and it is very rude to mess up the groomed cross country ski trails once there is enough snow to ski). it was an amazing run along the plover river with its edges icing up.
yet the truly fun part began when i started to drive home. you see i had been running in winter tights and a jacket. it works perfect for running because its just barely warm enough. while it is great while i am running it is not really something i want to wear into stores and around public. it is also very cold if you are not running. on division street (the main drag from point to plover) my radio died. i thought that was a little weird but it came back on so i dismissed it as static electricity resetting the radio. then it happened again and all the lights on my dashboard came on and immediately blanked out. at that point i was fairly sure that the alternator in my car was dying. i figured it out for sure just about the second that my car stopped running. i was stuck on the busiest street in stevens point during lunch hour and the beginning of a snow storm. i was going to have to get out of the car and push it on division while wearing just running tights and a jacket.
i desperately thought that i might be able to get someone to stop but apparently people don’t respond well to tall guys in tights. three guys finally had pity on me and came over to help push the car to a safe place. i’m not real sure why they laughed constantly while they were pushing the car.