lets say the bottom drops out

I haven't been running since last week: I planned a nice set of indoor activities for the weekend, swimming and yoga, since the highest temps were supposed to be around 8 degrees. And I tried water running on Saturday! I put on a little floaty belt and made a complete ass of myself huffing up and down a lane in the pool. It was fun, but it didn't really feel like a "work out" no sweat, no breathlessness, definitely no speed to speak of.
And on Sunday I woke up in total agony.
I've had this weird cramp in the middle of my right calf every once in awhile since this summer. I think it was caused by a gait change originally, and I haven't really given it the time or attention needed to fully get rid of it. So it is usually a little sore in the am and more so after a longer run. Something about the water running set it off in a big way and I was all a-hobble Sunday morning.
I called my mom (my go-to medical consultant) and she made me do a couple of stretches and tell her how the pain increased or receded to try and determine if it was a blood clot...it didn't react like a blood clot, so I took some Ibuprofin and laid around with my leg elevated for most of the day. I did a little light yoga in the afternoon, and then nothing at all yesterday, and today it is feeling mostly normal...
so I'm going to try a run tonight? I think?
I really don't want to hurt myself, but I really do want to be increasing my mileage so I can register for the 10miler this Friday.
Its always something, isn't it?

rattle dem bones

I ran a lovely outdoor 5 miler yesterday and am still slightly self satisfied about it. Granted 5 miles is not that long in the scheme of things ( 1/2 the distance I want to race in early February, just over 1/3 of a half marathon..et cetera and so forth) but it felt long because it was part of my work day, and it felt good because I checked the weather and it is supposed to be bone chillingly cold all weekend so running outside might not be in the cards for the next couple of days. Running probably will be though, just more of the treadmill variety.

studiousness

Back at work today and just an hour left to go. I am glad, mostly, to be back at work. The structure of the work day really helps me out, being on vacation without any set plans meant I spent (or perhaps misspent) a lot of time thinking about what I should be doing but not actually doing it. Today I went down to the gym and ran 3 treadmill miles around 11:30 and then came back and had lunch and have been cleaning up in my office ever since. A good day. Oh and I just paid my credit card bill. I am so embarrassed to even have one: I saved money for christmas and was determined to get through the gift giving season without carrying around plastic debt but it snuck up on me: all of it spending on non-christmas items (groceries, gas, drinks, more groceries) to the tune of $300. Plus $40 I spent on a tutu in a fit of please-like-me-ness that I don't really want to talk about(I saw it on the statement and was all frustrated all over again with myself. Sometimes I want way to badly to be liked. And tutus are not going to help. And I know this, and yet...). So I never carry a balance, and was kind of flustered by the fact that my due date for payment was today, and I had a balance, and it said there was no payment due --I think because I last paid in mid-December, though I don't admit to entirely understanding, so because of that I paid the balance in full today from my E-Fund, in a little mini panic about possibly screwing up my credit score by missing a payment. That is an emergency, right? The panic more than the actual $340 I mean. I have the E-Fund so that if something bad happens I have money to help, so I'm totally counting this as an emergency (small "e" though). I think I'll pay it back into my E-Fund with my next paycheck most likely, but hooboy that was a tense minute there.

year in, year out

I ran a little over 500 miles in 2009. I'm pretty pleased with that, but I wanted to run 20 miles this past week ( I was on vacation) and ended up running only 14. As with any winter running, it was complicated by the weather--really cold to start the week off, and now we're in the middle of a multi-day snow storm. Not ideal running conditions. I am still kicking myself for not running long and outdoors on Monday when it was in the 40s. If I'd done seven or eight miles then I probably could have made my goal for the week despite the weather--but I ran eight miles on Saturday, so shorter seemed better at that point.
I would like to run more in 2010--my weekly average for 2009 was around 10 miles a week, which is kind of weak. I'd like to run enough this coming year to bring my average mileage per week up over 15.
2009 was a good year all in all. And hopefully 2010 will be even better once it gets going. I am working on revising my savings plans in the new year--my goals are rather broad and as a result I feel like (a) I am not saving enough and (b) I am always broke and (c) like any goal I have I am unlikely to ever reach. I've been doing the steady-as-she-goes little bits of money into lots of different plans approach, and am feeling frustrated and stymied and (did I mention?) broke at the moment. But on the upside, I have an e-fund, a "small e" fund, travel fund, house fund and Roth IRA in addition to my company retirement plan. So its okay, its just that I am really questioning trying to continue to grow them all at once, and at the same time having trouble deciding which ones to put aside. Way back when I had very little money I would do one-lump sum kind of things, so that every three months or so each of my funds got a semi-sizable infusion of cash. With the increase in my paycheck when i changed jobs I realized that I could fund everything steadily at a lower level, and I've been doing that for awhile. This year has been hard only because my living expenses have increased but I have been trying to keep my savings rate the same. I do realize its not the best idea, but I am uncomfortable with the thought of saving less.
I managed to spend less than $100 this whole week I've been on vacation, which has been great, but I know come Monday I am going to have to do things like put gas in my car to get to work, and it kind of sucks to worry about those kind of recurring expenses. I'll let you know if / when I figure it out.
Happy New Year!

why we run

I just read ALL of the comments on this thread over at Runners World ( I confess I am a long time lurker; never have I actually signed in or posted there). Its neat to see all the different and similar answers to the question: why do you run?
I am personally addicted to it I think. Its just so good. You know?
I just sent a link out to a bunch of people about a "Resolution Run" on New Year's Day. I am pretty sure no one is going to take me up on it, but if the temperature is above 30 I would be so all about that.
I've been getting into longer stuff a little more often lately: I did five miles (on a treadmill again! Its 11 degrees out!) this afternoon, and seven miles last Saturday when the temperature hit 36.
I seem to be locked in that old seasonal debate: which is worse, potential frost bite or the unending boredom of the treadmill session?
I seem to have at least managed to be less bored by treadmill workouts with the addition of mindless TV. I don't have a TV at home, so I rarely have any idea what I am watching or when anything is on, but it is really nice to have something to focus on other than the data points displayed on the treadmill readout --I definitely have horrible urges to crank the sucker up as far as possible to make the time go by if I watch the "distance traveled" blip for too long.
I know its my own thing --and that is definitely one of the things I like about it; the solitude, the peace and quite, the "me" time of running, --but I really wish I could give a little bit of it to the people I love as a gift; It feels so good sometimes, I just want to share that, say "see, this is why. Don't you love it?!" Its hard to explain, to people who don't run, how nice it can feel to run as fast as you can up a hill or to finish up a nice six or seven mile loop or even just run a mile on a track a little faster than you did last time you tried it. Why can't we bottle that? Why can't I get people to run with me?

rain and snow

So first there was snow, and then rain. Its been a little dicey out there ever since. I've fallen down once, skinned my knee pretty good but other than that it seems to be doing alright. As a result though, I'm sticking to middle of the day runs or running indoors. I actually did 5 miles on a treadmill this weekend. Ugh.
Its awful while in process--the staying in one place part of it annoys me the most I think(it means my elbows sweat. its grossly gross). I only managed to make it to five because my gym has installed a couple of flat screen tvs in front of their cardio equipment, and that old movie about the Jackson family came on VH1 ( this one ) right when I was ready to call 3 miles "good enough". But I needed to get to 5, and thankfully the Jacksons were entertaining enough to get me there (but, sadly, not to make me stay for 6 or 7). I've been slacking lately--I got sick in mid-November and my mileage has lagged since. And my pants are starting to get tight. So I need to buck up and do the miles. I don't know how conceivable it is that I could check a tv schedule before my next long run and try and have it coincide with something watchable, but having something to focus on other than the read out screen on the treadmill is incredibly helpful, so maybe I should give that a try.

falling off the sick train

So I managed to catch the flu and not really recognize it for the first two days. I was actually calling my mom (my go-to medical professional) to see if it still counted as a "head cold" if you had body aches --because you can still run if you have a head cold, I've read that all over the place. But as it turns out, body aches, chills and the rest of my symptoms added up to the flu and I didn't run for almost two weeks as a result. I got back on the running band wagon yesterday with a nice slow four miler and am glad to be back on the road again.
It occurred to me at some point over my running hiatus that it has been 5 years since I ran a marathon. Call me crazy but it seems like it could be time to get back on that band wagon too. My plan right now involves running a mid-winter 10 miler that is held just south of here in early February, and if that goes well a half marathon at the end of February that is down the coast a bit further, and from there perhaps launching a full-blown training plan for a marathon somewhere in the mid-April to May date range.
But really, its too soon to tell right now. My thighs are pretty tight right now, from my piddly 4 mile run yesterday, and my hips were achey during the run but are not giving me any grief at the moment. And even though I like the way that long distance running makes me feel and look, my main aim is still to stay healthy and as injury free as possible in both the near and long term.
It would be great to be able to do that and complete the races I have in my sights right now.

peel the banana

Just came back from a nice smooth four miler. Its a good day when I get to go out for a run during work hours.
I really really didn't want to go. At all. I was planning to go around 10 this morning and managed to talk myself out of it and nearly didn't get out the door to actually go and do it at a little after 1. I have been pretty lame like that lately, a general lack of energy and interest in much of anything except things like chocolate and sitting still. I think its possible its just because of the overload of the conference. I really wish I had had the foresight to take the rest of this week off and just decompress / de-stress / hang around in my jim-jams for several days in a row. Doesn't that just sound lovely?
But instead I jumped right back into it all: work, and looking around at graduate schools and programs and pros and cons and then tonight we're going to a Civic Engagement thing and tomorrow I've said I'll go out and knit and drink with a friend I haven't seen in nearly a year. And its cool, really it is, its just that it would have been a lot cooler if it had all been next week maybe.

on your way to san jose

So, I've been away at a conference since Saturday and am just getting back into work. Today I also had a meeting with a program head about further education. Its something my boss has suggested before --its not uncommon for folks around here to have multiple masters degrees. This afternoon a doctorate was brought up as something else to consider though. And I kind of am.
Of course, the thing is, there is only so much time in any given day. Right now my days move pretty smoothly. If my time isn't mostly my own, I still have enough time to myself that I manage to do things I like to do (like run) as well as things I need to do (this category might also occasionally include running, I'll admit).
This past weekend at the conference, things were different. I was a co-chair on the planning comittee and so for the weekend my time was entirely divided between conference duties and trying to get something out of attending the conference. I managed to go running once: at 5:30 am Sunday morning. I had visions of doing this each day of the conference, but having planning committee meetings after the events of the day had finished meant I wasn't getting back to my own hotel room until 11 or later--which made it rather difficult to get up at the crack of dawn no matter how much better I thought I would feel post-run.
When I got home yesterday I carried everything inside and got straight into my running gear and headed out for what turned out to be a pretty short trot: just the little 3 mile loop I've been doing since we moved into the neighborhood. Not bad, I'll take it over no run at all, but I am feeling a need to expand my horizons. I need to get in something a little longer, and soon I think.
Which makes me wonder if adding school of any kind to my life might be more of a detraction than anything else. I mean, a doctorate could be cool. Potentially. even a second masters probably is in no way a bad idea in the long term. But in the near term, what sort of things will I have to give up / ration to get there?
Right now I'm contributing 16% of my pre-tax income to retirement, with a 100% employer match of the first 8%(which is super cool. The sad part is my salary is puny enough that 24% of it doesn't come close to hitting the max amount the government sets for contributions each year). I don't think I could do that and pay for another degree, so I would probably drop back to 8% right off the bat, and feel badly about it because I am doing so much more right now. I read this post over at GRS and the comments that go with it, and it seems like kind of a no brainer to me that at any given point it is going to make more sense to save a little than to save nothing. But even better than saving a little is saving all you can. Provided it doesn't hurt you in your current situation. Which means that since I have been contributing so much for the last 4 years, maybe it is okay to consider dropping it down a bit to do something else--really that was kind of always the plan I guess, to get to a certain point and be able to cut back in my retirement savings area-- I just thought that something else might be several more years away and be more likely to be a child's education than my own. heh.
And there is this weird law of diminishing returns in Academia that says that it might not actually be worth it to get a doctorate at all. Which is possibly because Academia is so self serving in some ways (my meeting this afternoon also talked about how there are some very qualified adjuncts who could be teaching in this particular doctoral program, if they would just get their own doctorates--to continue to adjunct and get paid basically peanuts--because you can't have someone with an MS teaching in a doctoral program, that just wouldn't be right). So while I am considering it and thinking how nicely my name might sound with a Dr in front of it, I am in no way sold on the idea that I've got to have a doctorate to stay in this field or move up in my work. Sure it might help, but my life is pretty okay right now, you know? Maybe considering is enough. Considering and continuing to save to my fullest possible extent so that if I have options later on I'll be in a better position to take advantage of them.

meatball meatball sitting on the fence

So in all the excitement of playing catch up yesterday I forgot to mention that I did a (piddly) 2 mile run yesterday morning. Its actually really nice*, the new neighborhood has a pretty sweet ocean side path of about 1.5 miles that links up to the 'round the bay path I used to live near. I am sure this winter it will be an extra chilly place to run, but right now its like every run is part meditation because of all the staring into the middle distance I do, gazing out at the ocean.
I need to run today and forgot my running shoes at the house, so I'm ducking out of work early to get in a couple miles before people come over for dinner later on tonight. Not exactly responsible, but I'm working all weekend (well, attending a work related conference) so I figure its not unwarranted.
* "actually really nice" doesn't mean I think its worth $xxxx.xx per month just for ocean view living: even with a running path. But I will admit: it is nice. it is super nice.
And also: I am mostly pain free: its amazing how many of the past posts are about the pain in my hip! Its been probably a solid year without significant pain--they're still tight occasionally, especially the day after a longer run, but even though I've done a 1/2 marathon, run 12 miles through the woods dressed as a chicken (halloween trail race: awesome), run 11 miles as part of a marathon relay team and done a bunch of 5 and 10k races, I haven't had any days of stabbing pain or trouble walking.
I think cross training has been really key: I started taking Karate in Jan of 2008 at an adult dojo, and it was really really good for me I think. Sadly the dojo closed this summer, so I'm without Karate for the time being anyway, but I do still do all sorts of ridiculous pseudo-ninja moves if given enough time / space / alcohol. But in all seriousness: the kicks, man. They really open up your hips.

ring around the ...

wow! So I just went and posted a comment somewhere else and then realized I did actually do this myself once in awhile once upon a time. So funny. So here is whats up lately: I did a 5k dressed as a salad (super salad actually, cape made of lettuce. very nice.) this past weekend, its getting cold again and my weekly mileage is down--around 10-12 a week for the last couple weeks--I'm trying to stick there / get back up into the 15-20 miles a week range, but I'm having some weird knotting in my right calf muscles, which I attribute to running pretty regularly with a friend who is a faster runner for awhile this summer. It changed my gait, which I didn't expect to happen, and that has resulted in some weirdness, but overall it was really great, and I would do it more if my schedule allowed, but right now she's off running marathons and the like, so we're not really in the same league for the moment.
Um, yeah, not much has changed really. I mean things have, but in ways where they also stayed the same mostly. I am living in a different part of the same city, with my boyfriend (haha, same guy, new living situation) and my cats, and still working at the same job and loving it. Still obsessing about money periodically--the new apartment is double the price of the house my sister and I lived in, which is totally lame, but it is nice (and bf kept saying "don't cheap out on me!" every time I would point to a cheaper listing / hem and haw about an ocean view really being worth $xxxx.xx a month ) --its just that it makes it harder to fund all of the various schemes I have going (the retirement scheme, the buy a house some day scheme, the have christmas scheme the travel the world scheme...I'm a schemer) which I really have trouble letting go of--to the point of not changing my automatic withdrawls and living on the $110 I had left for the first two pay periods in the new place...I did fix that this week though, so hopefully I won't feel like a pauper next month.
And maybe I will actually start doing this again. I do enjoy spouting off on the internet still as well :) See--everything really is the same!

spring forth into the snows of April

I know, its been forever. I am fast discovering that PT was not the end of my problems with hip pain, though it seems like keeping an eye on my stride and foot placement is doing some good things for me, at least so far. I should have gone yesterday, but went for a nice (chilly) walk with my sister instead, which was nicer. Originally I was going to skip yesterday and then go this morning, but surprise, its snowing like it doesn't know what month it is out there, and has been, I guess, since sometime late last night. It is supposed to turn into mixed nastiness overnight tonight and continue for a good while in the am. So now, I might get to go on Friday.
Here's hoping!

where did that penguin go?

On vacation and (mostly) away from my computer last week, but I did do some running. A nice little two-miler in the open air at the beginning of the week and a five miler on Thursday that left me in a lot of pain, sadly.
I am still having hip problems, obviously. And I don't know if the insert if causing them or if it is just my hip at this point. I had put in the little lift just prior to the two-miler, until then I hadn't been wearing one in my running shoes, and it seems like the pain has increased and is lasting longer. But I am also running more, so it could just be that. I'm supposed to do six today (which isn't going to happen, honestly. But I am going to try and do four) I think I might rip out the lift first. Is this a smart idea? I have no idea if it is or not, but I feel like it might make a difference, so I am willing to try it.
In other news, my shot at veganism has been derailed by my period-week cravings. I just cannot seem to say no when my body really really wants a peanut butter cup. This is why I need to run, and I need it to not hurt so I can run further, because otherwise those peanut butter cups are going to settle in for a long stay on my hips.

dribblecup

Did the first of the tempo runs yesterday. It was good, inside at the gym since it is beastly cold outside still. I did a warm up mile and then proceeded to do an 8:44, a 9:07, and then a 10:04 , instead of the three 9:57s I was supposed to do. I obviously need to work on my pacing, I started out way too fast and then paid the price for it. The cool down mile was pretty plodding, but it felt really good to have it behind me.
I am really lucky that I have the gym at work to use. JLB doesn't have that luxury, and is a day or so behind in the schedule as a result (I keep telling him not to sweat it, that we're doing an extra long schedule anyway so its not a big deal, but his personality combined with the fact that this is the first training schedule he's ever tried has made him a little intense about it). It is supposed to start to warm up today, and to get into the 40s (though it seems hardly possible given the current temperature out there) by Sunday, so hopefully my next run will be out doors.

March on! Or float!

Happy nearly-spring!
Here in the Northeast, it finally feels like winter. Yesterday I went for a short run in the out of doors (2 miles) and wore the warmest smartwool socks I own, fleece-lined pants (which I bought for running, but which are usually too warm to run in, so they are usually lounge-about wear), cold-weather long sleeve shirt and jacket, hat, neck warmer and sunglasses and didn't really warm up until 1/2 way through the second mile.
But: The training schedule begins again! We're at the 12 week mark for the 15 miler, so this should be a nice gradual progression into mileage that hopefully I'll be able to keep elevated through the summer. I'm excited to be doing it, even more so because I actually have a training partner! JLB is going to train for and run this one with me! I don't know if he is as excited about it, but so far he is on board, so we can take it from there!

just your friendly neighborhood cantalope

I did four miles indoors at the track yesterday afternoon. It was nice, though the last mile was a fight (to try and make it more interesting I went from counting up to counting down and was sort of chanting by the end "one to go! one to go! one to go!" Its hard to go in circles for that long, really. It does a number on your mind after a while).
When I got home I dutifully put my miles on the calendar I keep for that purpose in my room, and added the two miles from Sunday as well as I'd forgotten to do it then. The I added up the miles for each week of the month and then in total, and its pathetic. I have yet to hit the magical threshold of 10 miles a week and as a result my month is pretty lackluster. As of right now I am 1/2 mile behind last month. Gah. But today is the last day of the month, so if I get in a couple of miles this afternoon (which, until I looked at the calendar, I hadn't planned on, since I ran yesterday and I've been giving myself a one-day buffer between runs) then I can still beat the mileage from last month. So thats the plan as it stands right now, to try and do 2 miles and just barely squeak(1.5 + hahaha) out last month's mileage total.
Here's to March going way better, running wise!

now in technicolor

Have not written in awhile due to a week long battle with a sinus infection (which I mistakenly called a nasal infection at every given opportunity, causing many a confused glance). Not something I would recommend to anyone.
I managed to go running on Sunday though, in the out of doors and everything, with the ever illustrious JLB. He just got new running shoes (at the fantastic Running Company, always a good place to go with running questions and concerns) and would not take no for an answer, so we went for a nice mild 2 miler through the warm and uncrowded streets of Portland. It was really nice, and I am jazzed to get back into it this week.
I have an odd almost strain-like pain in the back of my left knee. I am sort of half wondering if it is from the little lift I've been wearing in my left shoe since this fall, if it is possible that that is causing some sort of excess pressure on the knee joint. But it doesn't hurt so much as ache as though I haven't stretched properly, even though I have.
And its Lent! Those who are unfamiliar, its this freaky little Catholic thing, where crazy little catholic types do something particular to mark the time between the day Jesus (allegedly) died and the day Jesus (allegedly) rose again. It is a good time, really. I was never much for it as a kid (the usual things to give up around my house then were candy and snacking between meals, pretty boring really) but as an adult it is a little different, sort of a strings-free time to try something new or give yourself a little much needed discipline boost.
I've gone Vegan for lent this year, more because I have been toying with it for over a year now, going dairy-free one day a week or trying to have a Vegan meal once a day, things like that, and the lure of cheese is generally too strong to do much more. I will admit I am being "sunshine catholic" about it and allowing myself Sundays as a sort of "break", but so far its not so bad--really not difficult and it feels nothing like deprivation. I'm actually enjoying it a lot. I has just given me a new frame to look at food through, which takes a little more creativity, given the unfamiliar territory--but a little extra creativity is not a bad thing, if you ask me!

windmill windmill fall apart

I am apparently having a problem with commitment: I think, at the beginning of each week that I am going to break the 10-mile a week mark (it is a pathetically low bar I have set for myself, and still I fall short. Damn it). Again this past week, things were looking good: I was one 4-mile run away from hitting the mark. But then the weekend hit, and with it all of the unforeseen complications that weekends bring: my sister's car went on the fritz, and she had a friend (a long-staying house guest of ours actually) to get to the airport in Boston(and we do not want her to miss her flight and be stranded on our couch forever. No no no), so then I am without a car (which, you would think, would lead to running, but no: in my head it was too cold outside for that, and only the gym would do--but it was too far away without a car: pathetic, I tell you). And there are also events: $1 beer night was Friday, so there was a great deal of fuss surrounding that--early evening drinking (it starts at 5:09! get there early!) and then the happy friendliness of sweet beer (5 and a half! a new record for me!) caused me to invite all these swell people back to my house, where there was much carrying on and some eating and more beers were drunk (though not by me, actually I was too busy talking I guess) and late night fun was had by all. On Saturday I got up and realized what a royal mess my house was, and how it had been that way even before there had been people drinking beer in it. Rather unfortunate, honestly (and it doesn't help when JLB, who you're making breakfast with, punctuates every movement of spatula or spoon with "its just so dirty. How does your house get so dirty?" Thanks guy, really, thanks) So I spent Saturday avoiding the interior of my house(Ice skating! is there anything better?), and then Sunday I gave in and cleaned it up. On Sunday the cleaning was what I did while I told myself I should be out running. So thats how this all relates, if you're wondering. So here we are again, at the beginning of a new week, with the hope that we make it to ten this time. Really what I need is some more mileage in a single run. That would make things so much easier.

helping the helpless

None of us ever want any help. Am I right?
In my experience, it is a difficult thing to ask for help, and help that is offered without asking is , well, asking to be drop-kicked into next week. I Am Doing Just Fine, Thanks. Thats all you need to know.
That being said, it is hard to be on the other side of the coin. To see someone that you know and like struggling with something, to worry for them and want to offer the advice you personally would never take.
Life is such a funny thing, isn't it?
I had a nice time yesterday, did a good three miles going around in circles in the upper reaches of the gym. It is fun to be there, sometimes. Looking down on the Lacrosse practice is very amusing (they do such weird things to get in shape for lacrosse: lots of shimmy-shimmy movements and grape-vine type things: all in unison, about 40 people all shimmy-shimmy grapevine! stop then shimmy-shimmy the other way. With sticks, and wearing helmets. It is like watching the cast of West Side Story getting ready to do battle with Braveheart or something. Awesome) while listening to Aimee Mann sing softly as I pound around in my little circle.

roller skate jams

Had a very lazy layabout weekend. It was super nice. Lots of hanging out with the cats and reading and some pleasantly low key hanging out with friends in the evening.
I did an approximate 4-miler on Saturday, in the out-of-doors, although it had snowed all night on Friday and as a result I ran on the roads and probably pissed off a lot of passing motorists. But, sorry folks. You are more than welcome to go slowly but surely around me, but I am not risking my ankles on snow-covered ice and buried side walks. Not happening.
It is different, when you're out on the edge of a country road (which doesn't have a sidewalk to begin with). Plows seem to make some sort of allowance out there: typically the banking is several feet from the edge of the road unless there is a gully or something, so in the winter there is plenty of space for running in the breakdown lane.
In town (or "city" if you will) the plows stick pretty close to the traffic lanes, to avoid the little hump of asphalt that signals sidewalk I think (I would have to imagine that would do a pretty decent job on a plow blade, were the two to meet unexpectedly). So the traffic lanes are narrower because of the bounds of snow, and very often (at least in my town) the sidewalks are inconsistently cleared, if at all. So the run becomes something of a battle, against the snow, and the cars and the elements in general. But its still better than a treadmill.
Speaking of, I am going into the gym today, to the indoor track again I think. I really really want to be upping my mileage. a 4 miler is a good way to kick the month off I think, but I need to be pushing it up and out. I would like to get back into the habit of 6, 7, 8 miles being the "default" length of a run, rather than the piddly 2 and 3 mile "speed" sessions I keep doing lately.
Its the beginning of a plan, anyway.