I was having lunch with my old buddy, Charlie, the other day.  Not only does Charlie own Big Dipper:  http://www.bigdippericecream.com/, the best ice creamery in the universe, but he used to train for marathons with me back in the day.  I mentioned to him how the snow had forced me to partake in running ‘hill repeats’ over the covered pedestrian bridge spanning the tracks, where a couple of homeless Native Americans drinking a gallon of milk looked at me around peat number 8 and one of them said, “I’m glad I’m not the only one that does stupid shit on this bridge!”.  I refuse to join a gym, you see.  Charlie mentioned the secret of the decade: YAKTRAX PROs.  They are like snow tires you put onto your running shoes and you fly over everything.  I picked a pair up at Ace Hardware for $22 bucks and headed for the national wilderness area trail that is a mere three miles from my front door for the first test of the Yaktrax.  Unbelievable.  It was like I was a 4 x 4 monster truck, going and going, over everything. Finally, I think I found a way to make peace with the voices that tell me to run no matter what.  Granted, I’m sure I looked more like one of those ‘joggers’ I cringe at being referred to, but I did pass a woman on classic skis on a downhill. Although, she was probably pushing 70 years old.  Still, she said, ‘Gutentag’, so that’s something.

If you’re in snow country, I highly recommend buying yourself YAKTRAX Pros for Christmas. They are the snowshoes of the new millenium.

BB