In like a lion, out like a lamb.  That phrase doesn’t really apply to Colorado.  I know some parts of the country are planting their gardens.  I ran today in four inches of fresh snow, piled on top of what’s left to melt from the previous two feet of powder, wearing gaiters, gloves and ski hat.  And shoes still wet from this week’s previous runs.

Let me tell you something about winter running.  Avoiding shallow puddles of water for what looks like snow on the edge of the trail, but is really mostly slush, is a mistake.  Slush is quite literally standing water.  In my experience, it’s typically much deeper than the puddle I’ve rounded.  It’s most certainly colder, that’s why it’s still slush and not yet water.  The best advice I can give you is to run straight through any puddles and avoid slush at all cost.  Should you forget this advice and errantly choose the deeper standing slush over puddles on the trail, weep for yourself, my lion runner.  You’ll never have a dry pair of shoes.