In Search of a Dry Road

Good Morning Barefooters,
February is in the books, and looking back over the month it was remarkably consistent.  Even though we had our share of snow, ice and rain during the month, God still provided a few dry days in between to help get in the longer runs needed to keep up the mileage.  I have had sort of an undeclared goal of trying to acheive 1000 Barefoot Miles in 2013.  For those mileage hounds out there, you know that getting to 1000 miles for the year, requires over 19 miles per week.  Since I always take Sundays off, this leaves only 6 days a week to squeeze in those 19 miles.  Either 3+ miles per day or 3 days of 6+ with a day off in between.  That is a pretty agressive schedule when you start to add in snow days.  Last year it would have been easy since the weather was so mild, but this year we were lucky to get 2 "dry" days per week.  So this requires keeping the mileage low enough on the "wet" days to not due damage to the feet and high enough on "dry" days to keep the weekly average going.
Of course the other factor with Indiana roads in the winter is all the salt and calcium chloride put on the roads to keep them clear.  Remember, salt is basically MEAT TENDERIZER so when you couple that with wet roads the feet can't do super high mileage, at least not multiple days in a row.  So it was challenging this month to watch the weather forecast and take advantage of the dry day that typically precedes the next big storm, knowing that I would have a low (or zero) mileage day following the storm.


Longest Run of the Year (so far...)

 The temperature cooperated as well and I was able to keep most of my runs in the 20s or 30s.  However, my first run of the month was also my coldest barefoot run ever on Feb. 1 at 5 degrees!  This was of course a "dry" 5 degrees, but nevertheless, a very short run of 0.41 miles, hardly worth logging!  This was my shortest run of the month while this past Tuesday allowed for my longest run of the month (and year!) at 9.62 miles.  This was a beautiful sunny day with a temp of 34 degrees and little or no wind.  I didn't actually set out to go that far but when I got to the 4th mile of my planned 6 mile run, the road back home was closed due to power line work.  So I decided rather than back tracking I would just make my loop bigger.  I turned and went down Little Chicago Road to Highway 38 and then back home.
You can see my Garmin download of the run here.  I enjoyed the smooth surface of Little Chicago and once I got to Hwy 38 I pretty much stayed on the white line which was smooth as well.  Of course the issue with both of these roads is high traffic and requires a constant watch ahead for cars.  When they don't get over, you need to be ready to dive into the weeds or the rocky edge of the road.  Most of the drivers in the area are very considerate of runners and either slow or make way as they approach.  I usually try to wear either my orange gloves or my neon green sock cap to make myself as visible as possible.
Well, the mileage is listed below, and as you can see I got in at least 3 "above average" weeks in February.  I will need to continue this trend if I'm going to make up for the 2 weeks down time from January.  Looking forward to some Spring racing, maybe including the Amboy 5K (and pancake breakfast!) this Saturday (tomorrow) if the weather cooperates.

Enjoy the rest of your winter and STAY SAFE!

Barefoot Dan

February Mileage = 81 Miles

Week 1 = 1, Week 2 = 20, Week 3 = 25, Week 4 = 20, Week 5 = 16 (weeks 1 and 5 partial)