Running on Ice (Minnesota Style)

Just got back from a long weekend spent in central Minnesota. M's parents live up there, and we went to visit the family. I was initially looking forward to experiencing some frigid temperature (-20 F, at least), but alas the weather was similar to that which I left in Baltimore. But, that let us do a heck of a lot more than the brutal cold would have. On one of the days, we went running on the frozen lake, which was pretty much covered in about 1" - 2" of week-old snow. However, the eastern edge of the lake had accumulated some blown snow up to about 4" in places. Occasionally your foot would fall through the snow, so it was a bit tougher than running on packed sand. The ice itself was over 18" thick: plenty safe. But it was still unnerving to run across some of the areas where the snow had blown completely off the ice. It was clear and black, occasionally with bits of underwater weeds visible. The large cracks visible in the ice were only a mentally-perceived threat as many people were driving F-350s and the like on the lake. I laid down on the ice in the center, and I could hear it cracking and booming underneath me. Definitely, it was an odd sensation. We made about 9:30 pace through the snow and picking our way across bare spots of ice as well. We did 5 miles, and it was a beautiful sunny day, no hat required.