Will Run For Ice Cream

Since my last snowy adventure on the Appalachian Trail (you can read that here)   I haven't been back out running. I don't mind ( so much ) the cold on the trail, but running in the cold on the road, just hasn't seemed like fun. And, I'm pretty much over the treadmill at the moment. So I've been cross training But, with an upcoming race, I know I need to get some mileage in. So today, I forced myself outside.

As the sun warmed things up to the upper teens, I couldn't help myself but get out and check out the Appalachian Trail. I'd been there a couple of weeks ago and it was very runable (and the parking lot was clear of snow). Well, duh, I forgot it snowed between then and now! I saw that no one was going up to the lot, and after I turned in, I realized why. It was ICY! I also forgot my microspikes or yaktraxs. After stepping out of the car, I realized I needed something more than my trail shoes. So I decided to go back home and get something so that I could have a better footing. I started down the hill, with my foot on the brake, I never even touched the gas, I started sliding.

I've been keeping my running on the treadmill - not so much because of the cold but because of the softer landing surface and I needed flat. Hills and inclines really aggravate the hamstring injury. But I have a 10 mile race approaching a lot faster than I would like to actually think about, and I have a hilly 10K a week or two after that. The 10 mile race is flat however some of the terrain is a little bit uneven and there are a couple of ramps that we go up. So I know that I have to little by little get myself accustomed to the harder surfaces, the uneven ground, and the inclines. Since I bailed on my run yesterday, today I really wanted to attempt a 3 or 4 mile hilly run near my house. My hamstring is

I wrote about screw shoes earlier in a #TuesdayTidbit , but today was the first time that I've ever had a pair. Basically I took an old pair of running shoes and my Hubby, Father-in-Law and Lil Man took care of putting the hex screws in the shoe. As the snow was falling last night, my very first thought was