Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut

The plan for today was an easy (?) 12 miler. It's a build week this week after the step-back 7 miler last weekend. I planned on getting up and out early having an easy paced run.

Instead I woke up to one of the classic themes in literature and storytelling: Man vs. Nature. Or rather, me versus a temperature of 8 degrees, and about 1/2 inch of snow on the ground. I looked out the window and thought "No way, not gonna do it. There's no way I'm going to run around that track 96 times to get in my 12 miles. I may be nuts (my wife would nod her head enthusiastically here), but I'm going to run outside."

So I layered up: Tights (or girl pants as my 5 year old daughter likes to call them) and sweatpants. A long sleeved wicking shirt, a medium weight pullover, and a light windbreaker type shell. And of course my stocking cap and gloves. I thought it might be a bit light, but I didn't want to wear too much and sweat a lot with the cold temp. Overall, it turned out to be just enough.

I also strapped on the YakTrax I got last year for the added traction. Luckily nearly all of the ice on the roads had melted this week, and all I had to worry about was the new fallen snow. If I thought there had been ice, I would have opted for the spikes my sister got me this past Christmas instead. I thought the YakTrax worked out well today.

I started out easy (honestly I kept it mostly easy the whole run) and hadn't considered how cold the falling snow (did I mention that it was STILL snowing during the run? Yeah, it was.) would make my face feel. I started wishing REAL
early that I hadn't shaved that beard off a few weeks ago.

I felt pretty good, and planned on gelling at 5 and 10 miles. I also decided to try a packet of GU2O in my water bottle. My sister had given it to me to try, and I thought it would be a good time to experiment with an electrolyte replacement option as opposed to just water. I actually
walked when I took my gels, partly because the pace team in the marathon will be walking through the aid stations, and partly because I had to open the cap of my water bottle to drink as it was mostly frozen. This is what it looked like when I was done with my run:



As you can see, it was more like a snow cone than actual liquid.

I was a bit concerned about the lower leg pain I'd been having during/after runs the last couple weeks, but my treadmill run last Friday night went fine, and there was little to no pain at all during/after my snowy run this morning. Perhaps my legs have quit protesting with the realization that I really AM going to keep running, no matter their protestations. This makes me VERY happy.

With the slower pace and the shorter stride my Nike+ stats were wacked out. It showed me running 15.5 miles at a sub 9 minute mile pace. I wish! In actuality, according to Garmin, I went 12.01 miles in 2:17:38, with an average pace of 11:28
per mile. A couple interesting things to note: the time was nearly the same time (only 2 seconds different) than my half marathon time last May, and my pace was nearly the same pace (only 1 second slower) than I hope to run in the marathon. Overall, not bad especially with the somewhat adverse conditions.

I did end up with a couple blisters on the insides of my feet along the arch, so I'll be keeping en eye on that and either trying some body glide on those spots, or hoping the develop into calluses over the next couple weeks.

Hopefully next week will go as well as this week seemed to, minus the lower leg drama.