During my run yesterday morning, I came upon a 25 yard stretch of snow and ice covered sidewalk.  I quickly assessed the situation and went left towards the street and across the grass/ice mix.

This morning I came upon the same stretch, but unlike yesterday I was zoned out and did not see it until the last minute.  Remembering how bumpy it was running across the grass/ice mix yesterday, today I decided to go right.

SPLOOSH! SPLASH! SPLOOSH!  SPLASH!  SPLASH!

SPLOOSH!  SPLOOSH!  SPLOOSH!  SPLOOSH!  SPLASH!  SPLASH!  SPLASH!

The further I ran across the grass to the right, the worse it got.  And by the time I made back to clear pavement, my feet were completely soaked up to my ankles and my fly ass electric yellow shoes had blown a fuse.

What's it all mean?  Today, I made the wrong fuckin' decision!  

I've done that before - I went left when I should have gone right. I ended up high-stepping in ankle deep ice cold muddy water. Except my shoes are neon pink, so not quite the same thing.

I hate it when that happens.

I was running an out-and-back on a local nature trail last Spring, the day after flooding rains.  The trail is paved so it wasn’t too bad, except for one 8-foot stretch that was still flooded.  There was just a narrow path where the water was less than ¼ inch deep, like an isthmus between two big deep puddles.

On my way back, when I got to that part of the trail there was a woman standing in the middle of the isthmus, talking on her cell phone.  Not walking, just standing there talking and blocking my path.  So I gingerly tiptoed through the deeper part of the puddle, getting my feet wet in the process.

Afterwards I realized that I missed my chance – I should’ve just splashed through the puddle at full speed and soaked us both.  It would have been a jerky move, but oh so satisfying.

Shoes, report to laundry.  Left and right.

When in doubt, stay left  

One would think *I* would know that better than anyone!

Di, spring is here!

Nova, I am so anal when it comes to keeping dirt off of my shoes that I could not do anything but laugh.  It served my ass right!

Phillie, if hindsight was more like foresight life would be a lot more interesting!

Jay, they will not be going to the laundry, but not into the washing machine.  I did that all the time before I became a runner and did not notice a difference.  I tried it again last summer and will never do it again!

I'm not stupid enough to try to run through that shit.  I walk around it.

 

But .. but .. don't you lose fitness by breaking stride?

A couple days ago I encountered a large puddle straddling the path in the park where I was running. Not wanting cold water in my shoes I ran through the grass to avoid it choosing what appeared to be the uphill side assuming the water wouldn't be pooled there. Sploosh, sploosh, sploosh. I probably would have been better off staying on the path and running through the puddle more or less tippy toe.    I avoided that section of the park yesterday.

Avoid the grass. And take a brush to the shoes.

I soaked them in hot soapy water in the washing machine for ten minutes, let it agitate for five minutes, then spin them air dry.  They look as good as they possibly could under the circumstances.