New discoveries along old routes



I'm so reflective!
Don't laugh....Safety first!



I'm in the middle of training for my next marathon, the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee.  So far, it's been just another winter of splitting my runs between the treadmill (welcome to Snoozeville) and bundling up to brave the cold, despite the mild winter we've had here in Chicago.  Yesterday, I slowly geared up for a 14 mile run outside.  It had snowed a couple of days before and it was a chilly 31 degrees when I started.  Fortunately, the wind was mild.  Well, mild for Chicago.  If you've read any of my prior posts, then you know how I despise the wind. 

Getting ready for a winter run is no simple task.  First, you have to squeeeeze into those running tights.  Then you have to get into that moisture-wicking long sleeve shirt, and make sure it's all tucked into those tighty tights so it doesn't ride up and expose any teeny tiny bit of skin to the elements.  I laced up my Gortex-lined running shoes (which are awesome for slopping through the slushy snow) and filled up my water bottles for my (nerd alert) hydration belt.  I hate wearing those things; they're so uncomfortable.  I put on my warmest running jacket and made sure I had my hand warmers in my pockets in case the gloves weren't enough.  I slid some lip balm over my lips; set my iPod to a good starting tune; pulled on my hat and gloves; put on my sunglasses to keep the wind out of my eyes, and finally set out for a slow run. 



Temple in Chicago;
no incense haze

Temple in Vietnam:
 incense haze

I took a usual route I run during my race training.  As I was running, I was thinking about how, a couple of weeks ago, I had been running on the same street and had for the first time noticed a Buddhist temple I had never noticed before, even though I had run by it dozens of times before.  How had I not seen this, as it's so out of place next to everything else around it??  Of course, by the time I approached it, my mind had wandered somewhere else.  A bit later, I came back to Earth, and thought, "Wait, did I pass that already?"  Indeed I had.  This might explain how I've run by it several times over the past two years and never noticed it.  Yep, I'm a perceptive one.  Of course, if it were more similar to those temples I visited in Vietnam, I would have smelled the incense a mile away and would have noticed a certain fog in the air. 

One of the challenging parts about running in the winter, is running on snow and ice.  It does make for some difficult running since it rarely creates an even surface.  So I've developed blisters in lots of new places as a result of my foot turning and twisting in new fun ways.  Of course, there are fun parts of running in the winter, one of which is coming up behind other people out walking with their hoods up.  Ah....the acoustics of the hood.  It makes it impossible to hear any sounds coming from behind you.  I felt a little bad as I came up to this woman walking her dogs when I completely startled her as I yelled out "on your left" to let her know I was passing.  Of course, the expression on her face was priceless, but I think I might have almost given her heart attack. 

My turn around point was one of the largest cemeteries in the city, Rosehill Cemetery.  I've run that far north only once before, during the summertime, where I stopped to walk the paths while taking a breather.  (Apparently running in the cemetery is frowned upon.)  Maybe it's weird, but I love walking through cemeteries.  They are always quiet and peaceful and I find many of the elaborate gravestones to be incredibly majestic and beautiful.  This time, however, I did not stop to venture inside as it was too cold out, but I did take a minute to snap this shot over the perimeter wall.  Hopefully it captures the peaceful silence that was present, and is rare to find in the city.   

It's hard to find something new and exciting when you run so frequently in the same places.  But every now and then, you open your eyes and notice something you've never seen before.  Or you run a little bit farther than last time, and maybe it's something you've already seen, but now it's winter and you see it in a whole different light.