Mileage: ~ 6 miles (prior walks)
Time: ~ 2.5 hours
Route: Misquamicut State Beach to Watch Hill (East Beach) and back
Winter in New England has been...well, winter! It showed up in early January and parked itself right on the map over our beautiful region. Frigid temperatures and snow-blazed trails made January and February difficult training months. However, I like to think we made a valiant effort despite the conditions. We are, after all, hearty Yankees and won't let Mother Nature slow us down.
...for the most part.
It was
a new year and time to step up our training game. 2015 flew in with
great ambition to get out and walk. The first weekend of the year, Jill and I made plans to hit the trails in the morning. One glance at the thermometer and an ear turned to the howling wind, we decided the couch was a much better place to 'train' from. Of course it was very much "If you really want to go, I'll go" "We should go; we said we were going to" and "We can take this weekend off, but we really need to go next week." The attempt was valid.
And then it snowed. And it snowed. We had Blizzard Warnings. We had Flash Ice Warnings. We had snow plied up beyond mailboxes and stop signs. We had temperatures drop and records broken. We had training to do and we were snowbound.
Finally, the first weekend in February some of us got out. Becky and the pups (Ramona, Eugene, & Roxanne) met me at my house and we scooted over to the State Beach. Not only to our surprise was the lot partially plowed, but there were other cars in it. We weren't the only crazy ones seeking the beach under all the snow!
Our first challenge was getting out of the car. The pups could not wait to bolt out, but we had to attach their leashes first. They had almost an hour ride to get here and I couldn't blame them. If only we were as motivated to get out and go! As soon as we got out, we almost slip. The car provided good balance to catch us because while the lot was plowed, it was still icy.
We gingerly made our way over to the path to the beach. It was all ice and the pups were rearing to run. If they were any larger, we could have just let them lead us like sled dogs. Yet, we made it to the ocean without having to use our rear cushions.The ocean just looked cold. It was not inviting and it was not glistening despite the sun shining down on it. The beach was white. The only sand was where high tide had been. We could see the frost heaves in the sand and everything was frozen. People played with their dogs or walked with their companions down to the left of us. We headed right, toward Watch Hill.
The road was plowed, even in the dead end. We made our way back onto the beach and out to the Ocean House without slipping again. Pure luck. A quick bathroom break and we were on our way back to the State Beach.
A couple of dead birds were washed up on the shore, and the pups thought it was lunch. Becky's method for protecting the interior of her car was to run toward the pups making as many weird noises as she could. The pups scattered away each time and then test her to see if they could sneak back. The noises won each time. 
Neither direction was very windy, which was nice. I expected it to be blustery and have to protect my face. I had gloves in my pocket that I didn't even need. In retrospect, I probably should have put them on if only to prevent this blister (first blister of training 2015) from carrying my water bottle. It was probably the only 'nice' day all winter so I got away with it. The path going back to the car was slightly uphill, or up-ice. It was a balancing act to place our steps in those others had made and make our way more gingerly than before. We managed to get to the car safely and corral the pups from the seagulls.
Somehow it seemed there were more cars in the lot by the time we got back there. I'm not sure where everyone was, but I'm sure they were taking advantage of the nice morning.It felt good to get out and say we did some sort of training. By the afternoon, it was snowing...again.
