the weather forecast called for 0.5″ of ice followed by rain, but what fell last night was mostly sleet.

now, with 30F temps, it makes for a sloppy, soaking, cold mess of a 6 mile run even if i try to stick to running in tire tracks on the side streets.

i’ve learned the hard way that these conditions are just right for a slip and fall after your feet get a good soaking in icy water, start to go numb and your shoes get sleet packed into the treads.

and to make matters worse, i have to run the last mile on top of this crap that the snow plows kicked over onto the sidewalk. it’s 4-6 inches of slippery, semi-compacted sleet.

fun times when your legs are tired and your feet are numb and there’s traffic coming at you at 45mph 😢

thankfully, innumerable slips but no falls!

most days i can’t remember what i had for breakfast, but drop me in a dozen locations around the country and i can remember half mile markers for runs even if i haven’t run the route in years. here’s one on a 5 mile route.

note the green grass on december 26th in grand rapids, michigan. very unusual!