Walking Before the Snow

This time of year the decision to walk (or not) is more affected by the weather than other times of the year. Snow, ice, freezing temps and strong winds can keep even the most hardy of us inside. That is why we end up glued to the Weather Channel and talk about our walking plans up to the very last minute.

Deb is usually right when it comes to weather. (Well, she is often right about other things, too, but when it comes to weather I take her opinion as gospel.) She assured us that yesterday's snow would not arrive until after we were done walking, and that most likely it would hit south of Columbus.

It was about 27 degrees when we started at 8 a.m. at Sharon Woods park. Lucky for us, there was no wind. We had about 14 members of our club walking -- it was great!

I ended up with the fast group. (I know. Funny, huh?) I told them upfront that if they wanted to go faster it was fine with me. Lucky for me they did not. (I was with Elaine, Nancy, Catherine and our new member Vince.)

The good part about being with the fast group is they pushed me! Our first mile was 13:45. That is often my race pace. Then the two women in front slowed a little and we did 1 mile at about 14 and the last miles were faster.

We did nearly 4 miles in 55 minutes! I'm pretty happy! (The 4-mile mark we use is not really accurate, but I don't have GPS. If it had been 4 miles, that would have been a 13:45 pace for each mile. I know that didn't happen.)

The really good news is, the snow did not even start until we left the restaurant after breakfast. We ended up with just a light dusting though it seemed to fall for several hours. Deb was right again! It waited until after we walked and most of the precipitation was south of us.
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For 27 degrees I wore two long-sleeved shirts, thermal pants, windproof jacket, ear muffs and gloves. Because there was no wind, I ended up being overdressed. Last week wearing this few layers at the same temp, I froze! Either I'm getting used to it or the lack of wind made all of the difference.