Running (Crusty snow) 1:14:03 [2] 11.0 km (6:44 / km) +100m 6:26 / km
shoes: O-Mixed purple & black
1st run of day in VF park. Ran between creek and train tracks for a bit on a trail that usually has some narrow spots. Got a bit exciting when the narrow 'flat' part became invisible under the hard-crust snow, and, despite the O-spikes, I slid about 1/3 of the way down the diagonal toward the Schuykill River. It was ~30 out & windy, I'd seen plenty of ice along the edge of the river, and there was nothing between me and the river where I was sliding, except for 10 more feet of steep, hard-snow-crust. At the bottom of that, there wasn't even any ice on the river, just water, with the bottom sloping off at the same sharp rate as the hill I was sliding down. I realized that my swimming skills weren't going to be much help, as I'd likely black out in 10's of seconds... So, I turned around.
And realized that the 'trail' I'd be on was about the same as the part I'd just be sliding down. A brief bit of panic set it, but there was nothing to do but try to get back to the nearest tree, so I dashed back there, and the footsteps held. From there it was stomp and climb straight up the slope, knowning that if I slipped, I'd slam into a tree instead of the freezing water... There were some other dents in the snow here, apparently another hiker or runner had climbed out of here at the same point in previous days. Or possibly it was a crazy cyclist - there had been tire marks in the snow up to just about that point, with the number of marks steadily decreasing over the last km, sometimes with impressive crash indents in the snow where they'd bailed. Come to think of it, there was no evidence of a bike going up that hill. I wonder if the rider had bailed, lost their bike into the river, and then crawled up to safety...
Running hills 45:00 [2] 5.0 km (9:00 / km)
shoes: O-Mixed purple & black
Not hills, but similar effect - had a really fun 'run', hauling the kids around in the sled.
Attached a rubber cord (water balloon launcher) to the rope at the front on the sled, and then took the kids for a run around the greater Heuser park next door - consisting of lots of little trails winding through the park, along a ridgeline, on really, really hard snow - only breaking through the 1-2" of nearly solid crust on a few steps. O'spikes for grip, taking turns with my arms to avoid one side getting too hosed.
At one point we came out to some football fields - also covered with the super hard snow, and I had fun running in circles, with the sled whipping around behind me, dumping one kid out then running in circles while they tried to jump back into the sled.
At another point, in a fairly open section of the condo assoc. lands of the development next door, I got stuck with the kids slid sideways down a short steep hill, with me on the top. I couldn't pull them up, for fear of breaking the rope (or my arm :) so I asked AJ climb out. He did so, and, on his belly, slid down the rest of the hill. That started 10 minutes of entertainment with the kids sliding forward, backward, face first, etc, down a short, but steep hill - never breaking through. Lots of fun. I even went down once...