Sunday, December 20, 2009

"Playing" in the snow!!

There was a blizzard warning this weekend, which is why I did my 13 miles on Saturday AM, before the winter storm watch started. Went to the park, blah blah blah, nothing to note, let's forget about that one.

IT SNOWED IT SNOWED IT SNOWED! Holy crap, did it snow! I stayed with a friend Saturday evening in Manhattan, because she was going through some tough times. We stayed in, watched happy movies, ate pizza, baked cookies, and squealed (well, I squealed) every hour as a legit blizzard hit the city.

I came back to Queens later on today (Sunday) and I wanted to go out into the snow so badly. However, I didn't feel like going out to Central Park by myself. My roommate was gone for the holidays, my other friend that I had just left had to take care of family, and I didn't really have anyone else to call on. So! I decided to run in the snow. I have been warned fairly often NOT to do so, but I also have been told by several runner friends that it's freakin fun. I decided to go out on a short run, not go for speed or anything competitive, and just run through the snow like a 10 year-old.

O M G. It was the best thing I've ever done. So SO Sosososososoo fun! And, for you readers, I brought my camera!

Here's a shot of the street near my apartment. I love looking down this street, because you see Manhattan. Can you spot the Chrysler Building?


I had made several rules for myself. 1) This is purely for fun, and not for any training purposes. 2) Therefore, walking and running is permitted, if not recommended. 3) Icy streets can take me out for an entire season, so don't run fast, and run carefully. 4) Be attentive of surrounding. With these commandments in my head, I was off!

I think I ended up doing about 5-6 miles, but I was out for longer than an hour. The snow in Queens was not as plowed as it was in Manhattan, and there were mounds and mounds of untouched snow. It was like an obstacle course, and I hopped, skipped, did little jumps here and there, and sometimes straight up fell into the snow. Oh my oh my, this was just SO SO SO fun. I ran through the snow, when I saw a path made out like this:

I ran to my usual bridge, and the uphill:

Ain't no thang.

The bridge was WINDY but empty, and at another level of challenge. I stopped sometimes to look at Manhattan and it's snow-covered wonder.
I finished running the bridge and headed home. I thought I was done, but couldn't help sneaking in one more childish picture:

I thought this snow-danger-talk was all paranoia. I was about to turn the corner to get to my apartment, when I was suddenly was met with a group of fire trucks. I feared that there was a major accident in front of me. It turned out to be a fire.

Although this had nothing to do with running, I felt like it was a reminder to me that I could not take today's accident-free run as something that's expected. Safety first, safety first, safety first... (continuing mantra)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Next long run will be in LOS ANGELES! CAN'T WAIT!!

1 comment:

heather said...

aha! this had me giggling all the way through. i am so glad you had fun in the snow. save these memories for when the beat of the city turns it brown and black in a few days, and definitely don't touch the yellow stuff. <3