Running Conditions in February - 2014 Edition

From time to time, I use this blog as a sort of reference for my future self to come back to for a somewhat accurate reflection of how stuff went down.  In no way is that more true than my use of this blog to figure out when the hell running outside will be a pleasant experience again.  It seems that March is usually my breaking point, see proof from 2013 and examples one, two, and three from March 2012.  This year, I'm going out of my mind already.  Oh great!  Stir crazy is coming early this year. I keep looking back at my blog to figure out what I should expect for running conditions.  February is a month where it seems like things should be getting warmer and then they don't.  Also, the snow.

Sample forecast for the first week of February:

If that wasn't bad enough, this just happened.  Yes, since before New Year's Day, all of our lows have been below zero.  Awesome.

For the second week of February, Wednesday is scheduled as my long run day.  There was a moment in time when it was projected to be 30*.  Not so anymore.  But hopefully it's warm enough, and not-windy enough for a nice 9 or 10 mile trot before I freeze myself.

Wedenesday did get "warm", about 24* when I went out for a run.  I specifically avoided the lakes because wind around the lakes makes me cold in the winter.  I ran on the Greenway, chosen for it's reliable plowing and generally not being near lakes.  Although that stretch between Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun, wind was in my face on the way out and the way back in.  How is that possible?  We've hit the point of the year where 20* looks like appropriate weather for a long run.

Third week in February, things sort of got good, but there was a whole lot of snow too:

Monday (not pictured) we had about six inches that all seemed to fall at morning rush hour.  And I got to help push a stuck car up a hill.  I am not joking.  Wednesday was super warm so I went out and ran 11 miles.  Enjoy some as yet unpublished photos from that day.   And yes, February 19 and the Mississippi River is still completely and totally frozen over.

And then Thursday and Friday hit.  We had the deepest snowfall of the season (10 inches in Minneapolis).  My car got stuck a whopping 3 times and I had my first experience with a tow chain.  (There is a special place in heaven for the dude who stopped.)  And I decided the roads were too bad to go to work.  And it's cold as hell again.  How was I just running outside all week?!?  I'm officially over the winter now.

Bottom line is February is just as cold and bitter as January, with perhaps one or two good days thrown in to make us lose our sanity.   I ran outside 39 miles in the entire month.  I ran over 70 miles on the track and only one treadmill run.  Goal for March will probably be to run outside and find my way through all the puddles.  If you ask me, the first week in March looks a lot like February.