An unusual observation that defies common sense...

A portion of my daily run involves a boardwalk that winds through forested wetlands. Interestingly, all the rain plus tree detritus and dirt from foot traffic makes those boardwalks rather slippery when wet. And when fallen leaves land on the wood, are soaked, and begin to disintrigrate? Whooo! It's like trying to walk on soap. O.o But I'd noticed something strange: I would only slip when I walked. If I were jogging? No slipping. Not once. Now, I've never slipped bad enough to actually hit the ground (or boards), but I've done some frantic windmilling on occasion. Interesting, no? Walking = slipping, jogging = no slipping. You'd think it'd be the other way around.

I noticed that same phenomenon today, when I went outside thinking the snow was only on the grass and discovered that yes, the snow WAS on the grass....and black ice was on the sidewalks! Fun!! Sliding a bit with every step, I carefully made my way down the parking lot.  Then I remembered my slimy board walk observation. So I threw caution to the wind and kicked myself into a jog.

It worked. No slipping. O.o I proceeded to spend my entire 45 minutes of daily exercise time walking on the thawed or never-frozen stretches and jogging on all the icy ones, especially when I had to cross streets. I didn't hit the ground or lose my footing once while jogging. But when I would walk on the ice, I had to be reeeeealy careful. Isn't that bizarre?

It must have to do with how my foot lands on the ground. I've noticed I run rather flatly, meaning neither my toe nor my heel hit the ground first. Instead, it's pretty much the whole foot at the same time. (I think my heel does hit first, but it's by such a narrow margin it doesn't really matter.) Yet when I walk? Heel first most definitely. And when I would slip while walking, it was always when I was setting my foot down, not pushing to step off. My foot would shoot forward out from underneath me, and cue frantic windmilling to keep from kissing the ground.

Anyway, I just think it's strange. Instead of slowing down and walking more carefully over treacherous stretches of ice like everyone else who was out this morning, I jogged and felt perfectly safe and confident. Huh. *scritches back of head in puzzlement*

We wantssss it...preciousssss....

250 digital screen tones. The proggie used by digital mangaka in Japan. And here it is, a lovely English version, just waiting for me to buy.

Yessss....precioussss....