OWL-DRAGON

Cold Weather Running


Last Friday there was a light coating of snow when I ran the trails. You have probably seen the snowfall that covers lawns but not the streets. Here it was the opposite – there trails were covered but the wooded areas less so. The trails wound like white ribbons thru the woods. It had a fairy tale quality.

Today, there was much more snow (but still just a coating). It was very cold (7F) when I started (but no wind). I was concerned – this was the coldest weather in two years – that I might be uncomfortable but I must have dressed well for I felt great almost immediately.

The roads going to the park were crowded – maybe people getting an early start anticipating icy conditions, but the park itself was empty. Not a single car was in the small parking area I use. There was one set of footprints on the multiuse path and as soon as I entered the woods I was breaking trail (well except for the various animals who obviously view the trails as a very convenient way to travel). Last week I saw no animals but this morning I did encounter deer, but I know from the tracks that many others are active despite the cold.

It was an especially beautiful morning – one of those mornings where the rising sun constantly changes the colors and patterns of the woods. At one point high on a ridge I stopped to look across the valley to the opposite ridge where the sun was just peeking thru the tree line. The whiteness of the snow, the blue sky, the dark trees, the red light of the dawn sun all seemed so primary and clear. On the one hand it was cool to know I was here first, alone in this quiet spot (if someone plunked you down you would hardly guess busy roads were less than a mile away); on the other hand I was sad that there was no one else experiencing this great beauty.

Tears that a gust of wind had squeezed out of my eyes had frozen on my eyelashes, but I still felt comfortable. I was very tempted to try another loop but knew it was getting late (a wrong turn had already prolonged the run), and I reluctantly headed back to the paved road. A couple more sets of human prints on the road, but when I got back to the parking area my car still stood alone.