Thrice weekly commute

So three times a week I met my cousin around 8:30/9:00 either at her house or at Winton Woods to run.  When we met at her house we "ran the bridges" - that is, we'd start in Covington, cross the Roebling into Ohio, then east along the Public Landing, then cross back over either the Southgate or Purple People Bridge into Kentucky, then west along the flood wall, over the Licking River Bridge and back to Covington.  We'd do this in reverse as well.  We discovered that there were pros and cons in each direction.  For example, from the flood wall if you cross over the Southgate Bridge (on the west side of the bridge) you encounter stairs.  Same on the eastside of the Ohio anchorage of the Roebling... stairs.  Going southbound on the Purple People is a bit of a hill.  Not much, but hey, we are first time runners so any hill is a hill.  If we were doing our first run at a longer distance I usually chose the "easier" direction to encounter the fewest obstacles (a.k.a. hills).  This seemed to work fine.  Running at Winton Woods offered more hills.  We also ran with Travis, my cousin's faithful Golden Retriever.  He's a beautiful 9 year old pup who has been looking quite svelte since joining our training.  (Picture:  Sun rising, view southbound in my car on the Roebling.)

For most of December the weather was pretty good.  Cold, occasionally a little misty but mostly good.  We had two what I'd call gross days.  The first one we didn't meet, instead I ran in my neighborhood.  I didn't know how to run in foul weather but the internet knew.  A little searching suggested rubbing Vaseline on your toes and to not step into the puddles.  Also, watch out for slippery spots, like painted surfaces and anything metal.  Glad I read that.  The Vaseline was brilliant at keeping my toes from chaffing.  The second gross day... I decided to run at the gym on the treadmill.

Treadmill running is VERY DIFFERENT than street running.  I did not know this and did not ask the internet.  My summation is this... in street running you're propelling your body forward and in treadmill running your pushing the conveyor belt backward.  That tiny shift in momentum resulted in a lot of pain for me.  I stretched after my run (I believe it was our first 25 minute run) but it wasn't enough.  My calves were frozen like rocks.  I hobbled around like a 90 year old woman for the next several days and had to delay running again for a few days.  For a short while ice and Ibuprofen became this girl's best friends.