Thursday, January 15, 2009

A Little Treacherous

It's been melting all day, but was beginning to freeze when I got out. Not the side streets - they're ankle deep in soft mush. But any cleared pavement with melting snow on the ecges, is slippery with the temperature dropping like it was.

Here I am again, finishing this two days after I started it. So it goes.

The Path Under The Stairs was especially bad, not because it was icier than anywhere else, but because it slopes so steeply. A couple of long stretches, thirtly metres or so, were covered with a thin coat of wet ice, so I was picking my way along the edges. A coupke of runners going up hill were doing the same.

After that, it wasn't all that bad. Typical spring running in this town, or chinook running. The flats aren't much of an issue, if you stay aware of the ice, but on slopes you had to watch. I was especially wary of the steep approachs to the 14th Street bridge, but they were actually clear.

The promenade is also completely dry, so no problem there, either. At the Jaipur bridge the slipperiness that was there on the walk home was actually drying up a little, possibly the transition to below freezing was actually drying things up a little.

The Stairs started well, but by the upper landing, I was down to plodding. The city has been replacing the risers, changing from wood to metal, and the newest set has a decided bounciness to it. All new steps, too, but with so much traffic, those will be worn out within six months

The trail along the bluff that used to be hard packed snow, is softening, and slippery, but not excessively so. A short run up slushy 4th Street and I'm done.

Distance: 6.46 Time: 37:30
Average speed: 5:48 min/km (10.43 kph).

Shoes: Asics GT-2130.
Today's earworm: None - kinda preoccupied.

Weather: Clear and -1C

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