Ice Run

Chicago Tribune - Tommy Skilling's weather forecast

Tuesday high 48 / low -1

Near 50-degree temp plunge begins late afternoon. Developing 50 m.p.h. gusts send wind chills plunging to -20 to -30-degrees by daybreak Wednesday. Mild through mid p.m. Tuesday. Spotty showers build to a period of rain. A t-storm? Accumulating evening snow. 2"-4" some heavier totals NW. Blowing snow, possible whiteout conditions.


I dropped Gracie off at dance class tonight. I had an hour to kill and decided to get 5 miles in. Tommy Skilling was calling for winter storm warnings, which was hard for me to comprehend since it was in the 40's, it was raining and windy but it felt more like spring than winter.

I got thru the 1st mile with the wind to my back and then my left. It was still feeling pretty warm. As I headed west I turned into the wind gusts and began to feel the temperature drop. It was blowing so hard I was worried a lawn ornament might come at me from someones yard. I only had 4 miles left and even with the wind I was keeping a good pace. It was still raining and the ground was wet. The Garmin chimed, mile 2 was completed. Then my feet started to slide. The ground was literally freezing with each steps I took. I tried to ignore it but slid again. Shoot! So I moved my run over to the grass parkways. This is going to stink I had 2 1/2 miles left, and had to run it in the dark on wet grass. Would try the street every once in a while but would slip as soon as I put my foot on the pavement. UGH! With a half mile left I was worried about getting back to dance class on time. The wet grass was starting to freeze and my feet were now soaked. It was so dark and difficult to see where I was running I would walk and then start running once I realized what the ground was like.

Got back to dance class with no time to spare. I saw Gracie lining up to leave as I was walking into the building. My feet were freezing and my toes felt numb. I have been running for a long time and don't ever remember having the ground freeze right under the steps I took. Tomorrow night, I'm heading to the school. I hate running in a circle 81 times but it's wind free in the building and there's no ice. :)