There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white

-Shel Silverstein

Last night I found where the sidewalk ends . . . or, really, where the city-owned sidewalk begins. There was a pretty stark contrast between stretches of private property and the long stretches in the parkway of public space. I'm not overly surprised by this, but it was enough that I stopped to take a picture to show what I had to run on all night. Also, you can see a distinct difference between privately owned, single-family homes, and rental units.

I set out after being fairly lethargic all weekend. I decided to throw caution to the wind and strap on my VFFs even though there was still about three to four inches of snow on the ground. I opted out of using my toe socks because I wanted to avoid any added pressure to the top of my foot. I'll admit, the first time my foot went into deeper snow it was a little chilly, but I got used to it very quickly.

Running on a bit of snow, enough to make it slippery, made it a lot of fun in a sick way. I was pretty concentrated on where each of my steps came down, and I noticed that I wasn't having any pain at all while running. When I came off the snow-covered stretches, I noticed some pain would return, and I was coming down a lot harder on my feet. If anything, the snow really helped me to concentrate on my form, to concentrate on treading lightly and avoid slipping. It forced me to carefully plan where I would go rather than just stamping down. I'll admit that VFFs do not have the best traction on ice, but if you are careful and willing to sacrifice speed for safety, they aren't half bad.

I am starting to really look forward to more snow. I think as long as it gets packed down just enough so that I am not cutting through powder, it really wont bother me at all. Also, I may have walked straight through a field of snow on my way home after the run to ice my feet . . . that has to be good for me, post-workout? Two-in-one deal!