Intervals on Ice

Winter finally hit the Finger Lakes, and pretty hard, too. I spent three hours digging my car out of the drive a few weeks ago, and 45 minutes yesterday morning shoveling a drift as high as my knees. Shoveling is good exercise, too, and provides a unique form of cross-training.
As long as the wind chill isn't too low, I'm still running outside. When the road is safe for running, I run for 5 minutes, walk one minute and repeat for two miles. Where it's not safe to run on the roads, I use the sidewalk to run "intervals on ice" -- alternating between running where it's dry or powderery snow and walking where it's icy or slippery. Depending on the length of the dry or snowy spots, I'll run hard, medium or easy. Then I walk through the next icy patch, scouting for another dry spout safe enough for a run. It's working...I'm getting a good workout and not chilling between the intervals of running. And my virtual running partners have increased to three, providing plenty of encouragement.
Keep running, my friends! Spring is coming and, with it, optimal training opportunities once again.