Extreme Cold Weather Can Be Brutal in Iowa.

I had forgotten just how cold weather effects things. Namely,   Things become brittle and easily broken in extreme cold.   In Alaska,  people would wake up to four flat tires as the cold temps would compress the air inside and break the seal.   Moving back to the lower 48... and NOT Minnesota, I thought those days of 'worrying about the air in my tires on a cold day' were over.... 


Well,  it was not the tires that were the problem.   Yesterday,  the temps were in the negatives once again.   And... My alternator adjustment bolt broke!

Hardened metal snapped in two pieces!   I have other theories... but I think the cold played at least a minor part in the episode.   It really was not that big of a deal.   I was able to score a "spare bolt" from a local mechanic and be on my way.   There is... of course,  more to the story.   But I will leave that to the imagination.   Let's just say that it was a simple repair and everything runs as it should.

Beat up Cheryl.

Angry Cheryl.

And then there is the running issue.   Cheryl took two days off from running because the cold, ice and hills were beating up on her psyche.   She was supposed to do a long run this weekend... sometime.   But we managed to squeeze it in today..  Unplanned!   The cold was there along with the wind.  But it was also sunny and the sidewalk was mostly clear.

Mostly Clear Sidewalk.

With some slippery, lumpy, and crunchy spots.

I say mostly..   It was actually frozen with a sugar like crust on top.   Your shoes/tires made a really loud crunching sound as you traveled.  Not bad for traction... but kinda bad for conversation.

The Sun sets early these days.

Casting long shadows.  

On the Last lap...

Cheryl rarely talks on her runs ( mostly because I 'm talking)  But today she was in good voice.   However, I only heard a few lines from her story.   It sounded something like this:   "And then.... =CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH= ... and he missed the start.  So he then had to ...=CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH= ... met his friend.  And then Finally...=CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH= Until he was done parking." 

I pretended I heard most of it.  But I missed a lot  of the details.   The main thing was that she was in good spirits.. and that is what is required to complete 17.5 miles...
 in the extreme cold.

Happy Cheryl

Hope everyone is staying warm today... and if you are in the deep freeze as we are here in Iowa,  Sit back, relax, and drink some warm tea.   Thanks for stopping in.