Winter has returned

Last night it was a cool 5C/41F, rainy and windy as I set out on a run around my 14K/8.7M loop. I was carrying a lot of baggage in my mind from a stressful week and seeking to leave some of it on the trail. I turned on my MP3 player and lost contact with the world for the duration of my run. I felt tired and sluggish, but was happy to be outside even in the soon pouring rain. By the time I returned home my body was much more tired than it should have been for such a short distance, but my mind was clear.

This morning my wife went to the second day of her spreadsheet class and I headed out for a long run. My goal was to run around 2-1/2 hours, including a couple hill climbs. It was a cold 3C/37F, breezy and raining as I set out over the first 7K/4M stretch that would bring me to my hills in Untergrombach. By the time I arrived I was already soaked to the skin and the entire hillside was covered with snow.

I started climbing the hillside taking the same path that I did last week, but soon I ran into ice on the steep portions, so found a more gradual way around the backside of the mountain. As I continued my climb the rain turned to a thick snow, but I was at least able to continue my climb, although it was slow going. Finally I reached the top where I had planned on doing some loops around the rolling hills on top, but the asphalt paths were treacherous and I was starting to get cold. I decided to head back home, I wasn’t feeling the best anyway.

I retraced my steps back towards the house thinking I would run some of my normal trail, but the rain and wind picked up and I felt like a frozen chicken by the time I reached the end of my town. I decided an extra 30 minutes of running wasn’t worth getting sick so called it a day, reaching the house after 2:14:50. After a warm bath and some hot food I finally got warm and was able to carry on with the rest of the days activities.