Monday, January 16, 2012

A Fail and a Win: What a Difference 2 Days Make

After the terrible run of January 14, 2012, I was in need of a confidence boost. This run did not disappoint.  But let's back-up to the fail part of this post, shall we? Lisa and I planned to meet at 10am to hopefully bust out 10 miles.  If you know the Seattle area at all, you know that we rarely, if ever, get snow.  So when it happens (which it has!) everyone is worried about it.

It snowed here!  A Festivus Miracle.  Cooper highly enjoys the snow. 

So while we both hummed and hawed over the driving situation, the actual running situation was the last thing from our minds.  So when I arrived at her apartment and began walking to meet her, and immediately fell approximately 1.2 million times in less than 5 minutes, I knew this was a horrible, horrible idea.  In true optimistic spirit, we trudged about a half mile or so (in which I managed to somehow step in a frozen puddle, break through the ice, and proceed immediate frostbite on my poor toes) before we finally admitted defeat.  I drove home and found my perfect couch indentation waiting for me and the coffee still hot.

On the way home I stopped at Costco and picked up some "snow trax", which I had been eyeing for weeks but somehow always convinced myself that I "didn't really need them" since it so rarely snows here.  Too bad we hadn't each had these this morning!

Those are my sweet Saucony Mirage's wearing some bling. Snow trax = the poor man's yak trax?  $14.99 for two pair at Costco.

Flashforward a few hours (after getting some Once Upon a Time indulgences) and I decided to try out the snow trax.  I did one neighborhood loop with them but realized the sun had melted much of the iciness so I came home and dropped off the snow trax, as well as my hat, gloves, over-sweats, and sweatshirt.  I wanted to do 5 miles but since I still felt good at 5 I decided I would go on for as long as felt good for.  I felt great!  What a change from 2 days ago when my legs felt like lead and I wanted to die!  This run. was. fabulous.  Fabulous fabulous.  Lovely snow views, lots of kids out sledding and building snowmen, I felt great, I did not fall, etc.  I made it 10 miles!  I felt very tired in the 10th mile (thus the slow-down) but by then I knew I had to make it to double digits.

The view on my run.  Isn't it peaceful and lovely?

Total Time: 1:32:48    Average Pace: 9:17
Splits: 10:17, 10:12 (cautious while wearing the snow trax in these miles), 9:04, 9:15, 9:18, 8:51, 9:03, 8:57, 8:28, 9:22

Win!

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Do you run in the snow?  How do you manage it?   Do you watch Once Upon a Time?

2 comments:

  1. Your amazing! Do you think they'll work? People in Alaska ran with those alot. The had frost on their eyebrows and ice coming from their nostrils...
    Idea-- we should make it a goal to run in the most inclement weather we can find, like tornado chasers and questionable career choices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Future Newspaper Article:
      "Two runners recently perished in their quest to run in the most inclement weather they could find. Although they survived the great Florida hurricane of 2013, the Illinois Category 5 tornado of 2015 was too much for them. Like the cow in the movie Twister, they were swept away."

      Delete

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