A Galena Christmas

Christmas can be a magical time.  Of course, that depends on who you talk to and where you happen to be.  Hopefully, home is for everyone.  I hear New York City is.  I've seen it and Disney World definitely is.  I spent Sunday in Galena, Illinois and in a way, my scheduled run was.

——–

Home to Ulysses S. Grant, Galena is a small, picturesque town in the northeast corner of Illinois.  Many know it for the great shopping and restaurants or for the beautiful 19

^th

Century architecture.  Some know it as an underrated outdoor playground.  I am beginning to know it as a great training venue.

It was a little bit of a last minute decision to come here.  I was originally thinking about going south to St. Louis in an attempt to break away from snow and ice.  Not feeling like doing a 5-hour drive, Galena came to mind.  Admittedly, I was a little fearful of what the road and running conditions would be like but was game for the possible adventure that may await me.

Pulling into town around 3:30, my car was telling me that the temp was 23.  Snow and ice was expected and was indeed present but it appeared that the roads and sidewalks had been well taken care of.  That's all that I needed.

I had an easy 8-miler scheduled for my Sunday workout.  Since I rolled in a little late in the afternoon, I decided to hold off putting in my miles until after the sun went down.  This would make it a little more difficult to watch for ice but I was willing to take that risk.  My plan was to just relax and enjoy some Christmas light displays.

Getting started from my hotel on the north side of town, I headed down the plowed yet half-covered in ice and snow sidewalk.  It was a walkway that I knew was there and that I knew would end after a short distance.  The temp definitely had dropped a few degrees but I was managing it better than expected – guess that I am finally starting to get used to winter…

That sidewalk did end and I made a direct left onto a road that I had never been on before.  I figured that if I just headed in the general direction of downtown that I would be alright. 

This chosen road turned quickly into a steep hill – I felt strong as I made my way up.  And as I came to a T-intersection, I hooked a right onto Ridge (if I'm remembering correctly) and continued in the direction of downtown.

I found myself in a residential area unknown to me.  I started to pay attention to the Christmas lights on the passing homes – every now and then having to jump up onto the snowy and narrow sidewalk, as an occasional car drove by.  Time and distance was not a concern on this run, at all.

Coming to a point where the street cut to the right and downhill, I noticed a lighted pathway straight ahead – I took it.  Then from the corner of my eye, I noticed the eerie headstones from the cemetery that was at my right.  I picked up my pace…

After passing a stunning bed & breakfast (the Victorian Mansion), I ended up coming to another T-intersection, which I believe was at Green and Hill.  Immediately, I noticed that I was at an overlook.  Below was downtown Galena.

There were a few options that I could take.  One was to go right and hit the main road where there would be no sidewalk heading towards downtown.  To the left was an unexplored area for me and was tempting.  What I decided on was to go straight down – there was a LONG set of stairs that was well lit and somewhat shoveled.

Navigating what turned out to be quite icy steps, I came out onto a narrow one-way street.  Cars were passing and I was slipping and sliding – I soon came to Main Street.

I was now downtown, weaving in and out, up and down the streets.  The stores were closed so the only traffic that I had to deal with were there for the restaurants. 

On the sidewalk, I passed two ladies who were walking in the opposite direction – one gave me a, “good job.”  I responded with a wink and a, “Thanks.”  I have NO idea why I winked…weird.

Downtown was decorated in holiday splendor – from the window displays, to the lights, to the garlands, and the wreaths.  Add the brilliantly white snow and my imagination, Galena was becoming a magical place.  All that was missing was music.

Leaving downtown, I popped up onto the sidewalk that went along the top of the city floodwall, above the Galena River.  It was dark and covered in a thin layer of snow.  I exited as soon as I came to the bridge that spanned over to a park, on the other side of the river.  The cannons and other military displays throughout the park looked stone-cold and harmless.  A big gazebo was lit.

It was becoming evident that the people in Galena cherish this time of year and proudly decorate their homes.  Without breaking stride, I passed each and looked in awe of so many Victorian style homes and bed & breakfasts. 

I guess that all of this atmosphere had given me warm thoughts since I had completely forgotten how freaking cold it was.  But as I headed back over the river, a breeze from the north reminded me – that's when my fingers started to go numb.  It was definitely time to head back.

Choosing to mostly back track my route, I ran one last time through downtown and hooked up with that same set of stairs.  I think that I had mentioned a few times in my past blogs, that I love stair workouts – this sort of counted…maybe.

I made quick steps and carefully navigated the ice and snow.  Arms were pumping and eyes fixed on each foot placement.  It was about 20 steps from the top when I let out a four-letter exclamation.  My quad muscles were starting to get that great burn.  I looked down at where I had just come up from.  It was a long way down.

Surprisingly, I only got lost once trying to find my way back to the hotel.  I didn't complain because it just gave me an opportunity to check out more Christmas lights…and run up a few more hills.  Those last few displays were viewed through frozen eyelashes, however.

I ended up running a little further than my scheduled 8 miles but I didn't care.  Time and distance flew by and it was all done in a setting that was, at a certain level, magical.  And it became a little more so the next day when I saw it all under a clear blue sky.

Galena is becoming my new weekend getaway training spot – lots and lots of hills…lots and lots of atmosphere.  Ulysses would be proud…