Stacks of Tracks

I wasn't sure what today's run would bring.  We had a big snow a few days ago.  I figured the singletrack would be out of the question and maybe we could put something together on the snowmobile trails.  Jeremy and I carpooled up to Bradbury.  Ian, Nathan, Zak, Ben, Alan, and Valerie were gathered, too and everyone was pretty much planning on about 15 miles.  From the recon of Ian and Alan, it sounded like the snomo trails were not groomed, but might be further out.  The plan was to run the Beautiful Loop and see what happened.  The boys set out and Val and I hung back at our own pace.  We slogged through sand-like snow, the ground sucking up all our forward momentum.  It was tough going and I was not feeling "in" the run 100% mentally.  After awhile we stopped briefly for a drink and I looked at my garmin.  1.7 miles.  It was going to be a long day.  Val really kept me going and since there were many road crossings, we know there were several points we could bail if need be.  Somehow as always, the miles stacked on each other and we just kept moving along.  We inspected animal tracks along the way big and small...and including those of the Monsters ahead of us.  Thankfully, the trail was broken ahead of us, and though it was still tough going, we could find the turns (although few) if needed.  We saw a bald eagle!  And we stopped for a photo op on an abandoned old recliner right on the powerlines.  The footing was sketchy in spots with mysterious ground beneath and ungroomed trails.  Then we finally crossed a road and picked up some fantastic tire treads from a big truck frozen into the snow - this was the best running of the day.  Luckily, we were able to follow it for quite awhile before it changed back into the icy postholes of the Monsters ahead (I said postholes, jeez, what did you think I said?)  My feet were wet from the snow, but not cold.  There was the occasional breeze, but for the most part the temperature was manageable.  Even though the run had started tough, I felt that as we went on, I felt stronger and stronger and got into a good rhythm where possible.  We decided that in the interest of time, once we hit Elmwood, we'd take the road back to the park to likely get in close to 15 maybe.  We cruised back on the roads and made it back to the parking lot for about 13.8 total.  I was hoping we'd get closer to 15, but the effort on the run was surely worth a couple extra karma miles.  Soon we met up with the boys at E&L's for hot food and drink, a recounting of everyone's run experience, and congratulating each other for sticking it out.  A great TM day all around.