It snowed yesterday. I wasn’t expecting it. I had looked at the forecast over the weekend and there was no precipitation listed. But Monday afternoon, it began to snow.
Since the weather insisted it was going to be a wintry mix, I figured that it would turn to rain overnight.
Therefore, I was completely surprised when I woke up Tuesday morning to find several inches on the ground. Surprised and delighted, because I love snow. We don’t get much here in Boise, so I’ve got to appreciate it when it shows up.
I drove to CrossFit on snow covered roads, with the lanes hardly discernable even on Parkcenter. Luckily, there was also very little traffic, so I didn’t need to worry about interacting with too many additional vehicles. My Crosstrek has a Sport setting that really makes driving in the snow feel a lot safer, so I used that and made it there and back safely.
It being a Tuesday, I didn’t need to go into the office, but I did go out again. One of the reasons I work from home on Tuesdays is so that I can go on runs during my lunch time. I thought about skipping it because of the snow, but I knew the snow wasn’t going to last, so I decided to compromise and just run one mile. It would be slow, because I’d rather go slow than go fast on treacherous terrain. And I put plastic bags on over my socks to keep my feet dry, just in case I ended up running through puddles.
The sidewalks right around my apartment had been cleared of snow, but after a few blocks I started to encounter a mix of snow and icy water on the sidewalks. Then I had to run on the street a bit, which was sort of clear. I got a block of uncleared sidewalk that made me glad I’d put the bags on. The snow was nice and squishy under my feet, firming up enough that my steps felt secure. I could feel it build up under my arches and then fall back off.
I was actively thinking about not falling. There were a couple of steps that I felt a bit of slickness, but I managed to avoid falling as I continued on the various surfaces to be found in my one mile loop. I was running into the wind on the last leg, gusting right in my face just when I had to unzip my jacket to access my phone and stop the MapMyRun app from recording.
I’m glad I got to get outside in the snow while it lasted. By yesterday evening, sidewalks and streets had been completely cleared by the sun, and even the trees barely retained a light coating of white. Oh, patches might linger, where the sun’s rays don’t reach or where the odd plow has created a snowbank. But the snow day is over.
