Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Since I haven't run in a while and we're supposed to get a lot of snow tomorrow, I headed over to the bike path to do a couple of laps on the Gerbil Wheel. Good thing I had my snowshoes in the car, because when I got there I discovered they hadn't yet plowed the path between the Niskayuna Lions Park and Lock 7 Road, so there was 6-8 inches of snow covering the pavement. Sometimes you just gotta be flexible... I strapped on my older pair of snowshoes and headed off down the path.
Even though the snow wasn't too deep, it was mostly unbroken and surprisingly tough going - I ended up walking a lot of the trip out. The flat, flat path was both a plus and a minus; no hills to climb, but none to catch a break going down either. Running down the short hill to Lock 7 Road felt really good, so much so that I decided to keep going on the far side of the road. Made it most of the way to the trailhead at the Lock 7 parking lot, then decided to turn back. Since that part of the path doesn't get plowed, it was tougher going than the Gerbil Wheel.
I was able to run more on the way back, in part because I could use my previous footprints and in part probably because I was warmed up. But I still did a good deal of walking. Once I got back to the park, I decided I wanted to get in a bit more, so I headed east toward the Niskayuna/Colonie town line, another section of path that doesn't get plowed. That was obvious when I reached the barrier and saw just the tips of the posts to either side sticking up out of the snow. Turned around and headed back, just in time as it happens - while I was in the car getting ready to leave two snowmobiles went by on the path.
I almost didn't go out tonight, because I got home from work early because of today's storm and was feeling pretty warm and comfortable. But in the end I'm glad I went out instead of staying home. It was tough going and more walking than running but well worth it.
JMH
