Winter Is Here Though it Would've Been Better With Pictures

The Plan: I had delusions of grandeur last night when I set my alarm to get up at 8am and go for a run.  I came to my senses and turned that nonsense off.  I had backup plans of running up and down my street five or six times 'till I'd got my mile in. But by 2pm I was fairly confident most people had shoveled or plowed, and I was ready for an adventure.  I grabbed my old point and shoot camera and my yak trax and headed out. About six or seven minutes in to the run (just far enough that I was not turning around) I realized I'd grabbed my camera but not the battery.  Oh Fail! 
The Run: I ran 'naked' sort of.  I had my Garmin on, but covered up by my shirt and jacket sleeve so I never saw it.  That was the only way to do this run.  Trying to jump over piles of snow and run in tire treads in un-plowed land just jacks up the heart rate sky high.  I ran an odd circuit of Lake Hiawatha, opting for all plowed sidewalks versus my normal route, then Lake Nokomis, and then back through the neighborhood.  I finished up with two striders, just to get myself to seven miles.

The Snow: The overwhelming majority of the route was plowed or shoveled.  There were some rough times getting across some streets through the snow plow debris.  (What do we call those big ridges?) I did run in my YakTrax and was glad for them.  If the street corners had been a bit more groomed, I think I could've gotten away with my trail shoes.

Disappointment: When I got back from the run, I was a bit bummed.  I think the biggest thing I was bummed about was not having my camera.  It's weird to feel defeated because I forgot a battery.  I was also a tinge concerned about my heart rate, but I really have to keep in mind there was some deep and un-shoveled snow in some places and that screws with everything.  And I wasn't trying to keep the heart rate low.  I was just running how I felt.   I should get over it because while I was running, I felt really great, even deep into mile six and seven when I should've been tired I felt good.

The Rest of Town: So we've had around six inches of snow.  More in the southern suburbs and less in the northern suburbs.  Snow started Saturday around 2pm.  It was 'snowing' while I was out, though the weather service said it stopped really accumulating around 10am and I'd believe that.  It's a lot of snow though.  It's giving MnDOT a run for it's money with keeping the roads clear.   This is a map of how traffic looks now, at 5:30pm on Sunday.  A full 8 hours after the snow has stopped.