Well, if we had any freezing rain last night, I didn’t see it. When I got up the streets were wet, but not slick. The temps were higher than 32 for sure!

So, I worked on the magazine for a while and waited for the library to open at noon. The streets and sidewalks around my house still are not clear enough to do real training, but I desperately needed to get in some miles.

Around 2 p.m. the sun came out so I decided to head out. It was about 40 degrees and felt like a heat wave! As long as no cars were coming, I walked in my streets and was making pretty good time. I went to the grocery store first to pick up a couple of really light items. Those sidewalks were just as bad as the ones in the neighborhood, so I cut through some parking lots and did a good job of staying on pavement.

Getting to the library was a little more tricky. The street I walk is pretty busy, but has sidewalks on both sides. Unfortunately, they were covered with snow, black snow, ice and a couple of inches of water. Where possible I stayed on top of the snow. Otherwise, I tried walking in the grass until I hit spots that were too muddy. I turned the corner to the road the library is on, and there is a bike lane that was very clear! I again was making good time and starting to sweat.

I got my books and went back, but used the sidewalks on the other side of the road. There are a few more houses on this side, and some of the residents actually shoveled their sidewalks! I love these people. It was much easier going.

Regardless, I walked about 3 miles. Later this evening I’ll take a quick walk through the neighborhood and see if I can tack on at least 2 more. With less traffic, I should be able to walk a little faster and stay in the roads. Though I’ll be a little bit short, I was worried about doing 6 miles today. My training mileage is a little off, I don’t want to increase too quickly and possibly get injured, like last year. The couple hour break today should help.

(NOTE: I was “testing” a pair of shoes for our annual shoe review issue. I won’t give anything away, but I got home and my feet were perfectly dry! If I had worn my regular walking shoes with mesh everywhere, my feet would have been soaked very early on.)

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