Snow way!

As I've mentioned, I'm training for a spring marathon. I'm putting in most of my miles on the treadmill (or the "treadie," as I've begun faux-affectionately referring to it), but the gym is a mile from my apartment and unless the wind chill dips below zero, I run over in whatever Mother Nature throws at me. This weekend, it was snow. Lots of it! At first it's kind of pretty and festive. But then it gets in your eyes and stings (note to self: wear a baseball hat under my stocking cap) and it's slippery and you sorta feel like you're running on uneven mounds of beach sand...except without the sunshine, salt water smell and crashing blue waves.

Since it took me a whopping two minutes longer than usual to get to the gym (and I couldn't get going fast enough to rev up my heart rate), I wondered if I was doing myself any training favors by running through the snow. I did some Googling around and came across a Runner's World article that says runners burn 1.6 times as many calories when they hoof it on the sand instead of asphalt. I figure snow is pretty similar in terms of consistency, so I'm giving myself extra credit points for every mile I log in the white stuff. Posted by Liz