So This is How Grownups Play in the Snow?

I don't have kids. My dogs are tiny and they HATE snow. That means, as a grown-up, I tend to use snow as an excuse to hang out in the house, drink beer, eat excessively, and cramp up my back by shoveling snow with bad form. Kids seem to make parents brave the outdoors to build snowmen and sled and what not. Dogs that weigh more that 15 pounds mostly LOVE snow and are a delight to romp and frolic in the snow with. Again, I got no kids, one nine pound dog, and one 15 pound dog. Until recently, snow = eat to insulate.

The past week has been pretty unpleasant for me. Bronchitis and running don't mix. Add in a super busy lotsa overtime work week with a side of blizzard (the snow kind not the delicious Dairy Queen kind) and I was way overdue for a total meltdown. Viola! Last night the meltdown happened. I hadn't felt like I had seen my husband all week so of course when he came home I lost my mind, bit his head off and had a spectacular meltdown!

We decided that this morning we would check out the local park trails and see how they were after snowpocalypse. We kept the plan to ourselves so that we could ditch out and hit the roads if the trails were too much to handle. And away we went! Some of the trails had only been trod on by snowshoes and some were fairly packed down. We picked our way across a few streams and then huzzah came across another runner. The only other person crazy enough to be out there.... was of course a good friend of ours! So now we were a trio. We turned a corner and started trudging through snow that hadn't been touched. Knee high snow that felt like this while running through this.

 

 

But it looked like this

 



I walked a lot because my bronchitis isn't quite gone. But it was worth every second. I got some time away from work and stress with my best friend and got a bit of "running" in. I'm sure that running these 4.5 miles were equal to 785 miles on roads. And I'm sure that I've discovered a way to enjoy a sunny snowy day. No children or snow loving dogs required.