The First Snow Of 2016

            Saturday began when I went outside and worked on the yard all morning.  The temperature hovered in the 30’s, but it was great weather to work in.  I was able to rake the remaining piles of leaves from the various garden areas, as well as from the other nooks and crannies in and around the house.  Afterwards I mowed the front and backyards.  It was the beginning of December, and yet I was fortunate enough to have the time to get the yard ready one last time before the snow came.

            By 2:30 I had cleaned up, packed, and together with my wife, daughter, and dogs, headed up to my parents house a half hour away.  They would be watching our pups overnight.  

After we visited, and got the dogs settled, we continued on to Waukesha, Wisconsin.  My daughter Jodi drove to get some practice time in while traveling on the highway.  We headed northeast, since Jodi and I were going to run the “Last Call Half Marathon” the following day.  After picking up our race packets; complete with cool T-shirts and our race numbers, we proceeded to the nearby Marriott hotel.

We checked in, and then drove to Albanese’s Roadhouse for some pasta/carbohydrates.  I had a plate full of spaghetti with “award winning” meatballs.  It tasted absolutely awesome; and provided me with the fuel I would need for the 13.1 mile race.  We returned to our hotel, and hunkered down for the night. 

Jodi commented that we were, “Living the life of luxury!”  My wife Cindy and I laughed.  I wasn’t sure if it was luxurious, but it was a very nice hotel and room, and one we had stayed in before.  We were full and comfortable, and we settled in to watch the first half of the Big Ten Championship game between Wisconsin and Penn State.  Since it had been a long day, we went to bed before we knew the outcome; knowing the race would come early.

            After a good night’s sleep we arose.  Both Jodi and I ate a little bit of a Cliff Bar and part of bagel, got dressed, and then we all headed downtown to the EB Shurts Environmental Center along the Fox River for the start of the race.  

Before the race and snow

As we warmed up by jogging a few blocks, a few snowflakes began to fall.  Cindy took our picture and watched us begin with over 300 other people.  The snow steadily increased as we ran.  The course quickly made its way onto the Glacial Drumlin Trail.  My son Todd and I had run this race together last year.  It had been a special day to share.  Today would be another special day, this time with my daughter.  Last year had been cold too, following a night of heavy rain.  This year we were being blessed with snow.  The changing of the seasons in what living in the Midwest is all about, and I love it.

Todd and I in 2015

            Jodi and I made our way through the groups of runners for the first few miles, and then it thinned out enough to give us ample room.  We ran, talked, and enjoyed the experience.  Jodi was the picture of consistency.  Together we settled into about a nine and a half minute per mile average.  We were probably a bit slower than that in the beginning, and then a bit faster at the end; known as a negative split.  The snow was easily sticking on the ground before we were too many miles into the run, although the black-topped pathway simply remained wet and clear; making for easy running.  Within a mile or two of the turn-a-round, other runners began to pass us going the other way.  It was fun to see the top runners, and crowds of others, but we talked through the fact that we didn’t want to get caught up in the sudden adrenaline rush, and knew we simply wanted to continue doing the same thing that had gotten us to that point.  After we ran past the ten mile marker, it was the farthest that Jodi had ever run before.  She commented that she only had a cross country race left to run.  Around mile eleven she felt a bit achy, but over all still felt great.  After the last water stop, we only had a mile left, and so we locked in and finished strong together.  Cindy met us at the end and was able to capture some pictures of us.  

We were not bound by the watch Jodi wore, but we did check it from time to time; simply to determine how we were doing.  She accidentally stopped it at one of the first mile markers, so she started it again at the next one, and then we just added ten minutes from there on out to give us an estimated time.  It turned out to be within seconds of the actual time we finished (2:05).  I grabbed two of the finisher medals, and put one of them around Jodi’s neck.  It was a culminating gesture after a lot of running; both today and throughout her jr. high and high school career.

            After taking the pictures, the three of us went into the environmental center.  Jodi and I got some fruit and hot cocoa they had available for runners.  By then we were starting to get chilled, so we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and packed up.  The snow continued coming down, the roads were slushy, and so the driving had to be cautious.  We stopped in Mukwonago for some lunch, and then headed to my parents to pick up our dogs while listening to the Green Bay Packers vs. Houston Texans football game on the radio.  After visiting, we loaded everyone up, and headed home. 

Home - 4 or 5 inches of snow

I rested for about an hour or so, and then headed out to clear the driveway.  In the heavy, wet snow I used my recently fixed snow blower.  I haven’t used it since we moved to this house, as it needed to be overhauled.  A neighbor, who is a parent of two former students, fixed it for me about a week ago.  It took care of the snow well enough, although I had to clear out the auger and chute a few times due to the slush getting clogged in it.  Using a shovel, I cleared off the snow nearest to the road that was extra heavy.  

To top off the night, I took our youngest dog Kora for a walk in the snow.  The storm had all but ended by that time.  The walk gave me a chance to stretch out my leg muscles, while reflecting on the blessings and events from the last couple of days.  It’s been a flurry of activities during the first snowfall of the year.

            See you along The Way…