crunch, crunch..

Crunch, crunch is the sound that my running shoes make on the new fallen snow. It is an awesome sound. There is nothing better than running in the snow! Everything is quiet, the air is crisp and the world looks so clean. Then you start out and the only thing you hear is the soft crunch, crunch of the snow. It's a peaceful run. Then there's that rock that just barely sticks up above the snow that you weren't counting on and the next thing you know you are 2miles from home and you are making a body print in the cold snow.

Rule #1: always look were you are running. Otherwise the rocks may get the best of you. Ask my knee, it'll tell ya.

It is never a good idea to take your eyes off the road. However the scenery here is so gorgeous that it is really hard not to watch the deer as they go running through the field, or the mountains all covered in snow, or even just the cows all huddled together or the birds flying in the air. Its all so gorgeous, so quiet. I do however enjoy the view from a standing position rather than the prone position on the road.

Most people can't believe that I have been running in subzero to barely above zero temperatures. Then, when they do, they always ask "doesn't that hurt your lungs?" It always amazes me that the first thing people ask about is my lungs. No it doesn't hurt my lungs, I wear a neck gator that comes up over my mouth so that I dont breath in the really cold air. Im always more worried about the ice and the frozen ground. But not one person over all the years that I have run in the winter months has ever asked about the ice or the frozen ground. Well let me tell you, the ice is slippery and the frozen ground is HARD.

But even after falling, two days later when you are out there running again, knee throbbing a little, all I can think about is the peace and quiet and the clean, crisp view. My knee will heal, the swelling will go down, and soon the only crunch, crunch I will hear will again be my feet on the snow (currently my knee is doing some crunch, crunching of its own but that too will go away.) At least I had more grace than the buck who jumped the road and slid on the ice and landed on his nose. My face I am happy to say received no injury from this fall. Too bad for the buck, hope his doe doesn't mind a buck with a fat lip and an enlarged nose. Crunch, crunch....