The returning runner…
Act 58 – Choosing the right path…
The faint January sun cast long shadows across the Steamboat Ditch trail. This far into the winter I had adapted to the chilly temps and running shorts and t-shirt were serving just fine despite the low-40s temps (°F). Keep moving and I was warm enough…Beau danced playfully alongside my left knee. Now my trusted companion, he playfully dove into our nearly daily runs. At least the no-leash runs. He actually seems to stay closer off leash rather than on. The knees and ankles ache a bit from the pulling “on-leash”- but that’s getting better each day.
I spotted a runner up ahead (“blue shorts”) heading back towards me. I was still putting on sunscreen when this one headed but seemed too soon to be turning back. The run had started out smooth enough but now I was into hardened dried mud. The ridges turning the ankles this way and then that. Not horrible, but not so fun either…Now, the hardened mud transitioned into gooey, clayey stuff. Both slippery and clinging at the same time. Slick, clayey, mud is way more slippery than snow but the inch or that was now sticking to the bottom of my shoes was the worst part.
“Blue shorts” greeted me now with a wave of a hand. It was too bad up ahead – the mud was too thick. He had called it quits and turned back. Hmmm… the trail in this stretch clung to the north side of hill, holding tight to shadow for much of the day during the winter. With a wave, I decided to push on. After a long quarter-mile, it got better. Just not so deep at first, then firmer stuff. The softness actually felt nice now – a little cushiony (I guess that’s a word). From there on out, Beau and I raced to “Hole in the Wall” – a spot 4.5 miles out on the Steamboat Ditch Trail where the irrigation ditch drills through the hillside in a large culvert. The trail peters out after that. Maybe you can get to where it goes into the hillside upstream but I’ve always given up on the thin trail that continues.
This was far enough for today… A glorious 9 mile roundtrip (with the extra workout on the ¼ mile stretch on the way back too)!
Some thoughts on trail selection, particularly for those who have real winter:
· Ok, let’s face it – south facing “baked” trails definitely dry out first and may be clear much of the winter.
· Snow is much, much better than ice (and even better than mud)! And, if you are confident that the ice isn’t underlain by ice, the cushion and necessary leg lift makes snow my favorite running surface.
· Ice is very nasty! First, you can fall and break something and/or smack your head. I’ve done both – a last moment of panic when I realized I was coming down fast on pure, slick, ice and a chip bone in my wrist on one occasion. Another time, a quick little turn onto a trail just as I was starting and stitches to follow above my right eye. Second, crazily, sometimes ice manages to hold its flowing form even after the water freezes. Running with spikey shoes (Icebugs) I wasn’t afraid of the loss of traction, but the crazy ridges eventually beat my feet into the worst plantar fasciitis I’ve ever had. If you must run on ice, I do recommend the Icebugs
( https://www.icebug.com/en-US ).
· My last thought, unfortunately when running on iffy surfaces, this isn’t the time for sightseeing. Sometimes you have to watch every step! Firm mud may be bounded inches away by slick ice. Also, you may find a rivulet of flowing water to provide better traction then the adjacent slick mud. The flowing water frequently washes away the clay leaving coarser material behind.
Get back out there! With some caution, the winter time can be a fantastic time to run!
Photo: Beau at the 4.5-mile Hole-in-the-Wall turnaround. A very happy day!