Ice, ice baby

So, I found myself in Buffalo this week for a couple of days (work trip) and decided I wanted to get a quick run in while I was there. It was snowing a little when I got in Tuesday night, but it had turned to rain by Wednesday morning - or so I thought. I trotted out of the Hampton in my running getup and headed down Delaware Avenue hoping to find a random park with a nice jogging path (there are a couple, according to Google Maps).

The sidewalks around the hotel were covered in salt and crunchy, melty ice - not slippery at all. However, the further from downtown I got, the slicker things became. At first there were just a few slick spots. Then I noticed that the "rain" was actually freezing rain and things were quickly turning into a skating rink. There was about 4-5 inches of snow on the grassy areas (also kind of crunchy) and I was forced to run on that, which was mildly entertaining. The problem was that there weren't many grassy areas and I had to keep getting back on the icy pavement.

Normally in a situation like this I would just run in the middle of the street, which was all slushy. But Delaware Avenue is a main drag, so I didn't think I should jump out into traffic. I REALLY didn't want to venture onto the side streets because I have a horrible sense of direction, but the ice was getting so bad I didn't think I could make it back the way I came. Hence began my exploration of Buffalo.

I tried to run in what I thought was a circle back to the hotel and of course, got horribly lost. Luckily Buffalo isn't that big and I was able to use the couple of tall buildings as a wayfinding tool. And, I saw some really awesome houses - huge turn-of-the-century Victorian mansions, cute little bungalows, and the nicest people out shoveling and salting their driveways. Everyone said "good morning" and no one looked at me like I was crazy for running in the ice. (I guess these people are used to going about their daily lives regardless of the weather. The snow/ice didn't let up once the whole two days I was there.)

About 30 minutes after I set out, I finally made it back to the Hampton, slightly soggier than when I left. (I was running through puddles on purpose to get away from the ice). My shoes were soaked but dried out quickly thanks to the USA Today I found hanging on my door. I shoved some of the newspaper in the toes and when I checked them later, my little Asics were dry as a bone.

It was actually a pretty fun run, although looking back, I'm lucky I didn't fall and break my leg (or my head), especially since I had no ID on me. (Bad Jen.) My boss made me promise to order a Road ID tag ASAP...