Treadmill yes, shoveling no

Today's run (treadmill): 3.2 miles
Yesterday's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

Winter luck has run out for those of us who prefer to run outdoors. Unlike last year, January was remarkably snow free. We've had some measurable snowfall over the last two weeks that is forcing me to run on the treadmill. I'm no fan of indoor running, but I have to say our FreeMotion 850 unit is pretty darn good. Compared to the noisy and scary Sole F63 that we replaced a year ago, it's almost a pleasure to use. I say almost, because treadmill and pleasure should never be used in the same sentence.

Yesterday was a planned work-from-home day and that worked out well for me. We received about a foot of snow between early morning and noon and I was very glad to skip the slippery commute. Schools were closed in my town and everyone was home. My wife and son did a great job of clearing the walk and driveway during the day. I would have gone out and helped, but as it happened, I was extremely busy with work. Really!

Earlier in the day, I managed to get in some treadmill miles in between meetings. I was more impatient than time-pressed and I set the speed a little faster than normal. I was fine until I began to blip up the speed every 10th of a mile. By the time I finished, I was very much out of my comfort zone.

Between some intensive video meetings and that run, I was exhausted by late afternoon. I also felt like I was coming down with a cold. We had dinner plans and I managed to get through that, but it was a struggle. On the positive side, I got a great night's sleep.

This morning I went back on the treadmill with the thought that I'd get out again with my snow shoes. I didn't duplicate yesterday's intensity, but I pushed pretty hard. I had a lot more energy today and all signs of an impending cold are gone. I didn't manage to snow shoe today, but I did do a little shoveling to clean up the end of the driveway. All by myself BTW.