Track Workout in the Snow

Saturday morning the temperature was 18 degrees in Highlands, with a wind chill below zero.  So I did what any smart runner would do:  I re-scheduled.

I planned instead on a three-mile run Saturday afternoon when it was supposed to warm into the 20s, possibly including some more intervals, and then a long run on Sunday when it was supposed to warm into the 40s.  My best laid plans changed, however, and I learned that I had to go to Franklin and Clayton.  Run cancelled?

Suddenly I realized that I had the opportunity to run my three-miles on a real track. Run on.

I am not a track runner as some in our running club are, but I have come to appreciate its appeal to the obsessive-compulsive in me.  Every lap on the inside lane is precisely 400-meters, and the surface is as flat as it gets.  So that's what I did, here on the Franklin High School Track, in snow flurries, 28 degrees, and shorts.

So at the end of the day I was able to write in my running log:  3.00 miles (note the accuracy) including 4 X 400 @ 1:58, 1:57, 1:59, and 2:00.  (Note the slow deterioration of time as the stiff wind took its toll!)

One good thing about it was that the usual walkers, who invariably hug the inside lane and do not respond to the time-honored cry of "Track!" coming from behind them, were not out.  In fact, I had the place absolutely to myself.