Sunday 19th December 2010 and we are already well into our second severe spell of freezing arctic weather. A decent 3 or 4 inches of snow fell a couple of days ago and the accompanying freezing temperatures have made the whole landscape a white, glistening winter wonderland.
The weather might deter some runners but I was dying to get out there with my camera and get some pictures of the exceptional scenery. I wasn’t the only one, my friend John fancied a trot too so we met up for an expedition along the local trails and canal tow path. Running on snow isn’t too bad with trail shoes as long as you keep away from the slippy compacted snow created by cars. I was wearing my high viz cagoule and red fleece lined leggings. I looked like a chicken but who cares, I was warm. John was wearing SHORTS, big respect!
The snow on the branches of the trees and the frozen canal neatly covered in a blanket of snow were just a couple of the many magical sights we enjoyed as we plotted our course as we went along.
We were planning to do around 12 miles but as time passed and we realised we weren’t going very fast our plan was revised and we ended up doing 9.5 miles in 1 hour 38 mins 34 secs, that’s 10 min 20 sec miling! The snow although not dangerously slippy was making us lose traction and noticeably reduce our speed. But still an excellent afternoons work out. And some good photos to boot.
