Winter Blues

So when I last made an entry, I was planning on doing 4 to 4 1/2 miles on Friday, February 5 (before the "snowpocalypse" hit), and then another 4 to 5 miles on the treadmill on Sunday. It didn't quite work that way.

I did 3 miles on Friday, which meant I would have to do 5 on the treadmill on Sunday. The storm hit Friday night, and I spent a lot of time shoveling out from 29.5" of snow by the time it all ended on Saturday. And I got a notice on Saturday stating that the neighborhood gym would be closed on Sunday, so since the roads were not plowed, that meant no run on Sunday.

I used the treadmill at the neighborhood gym on Monday night, but was limited to 20 minutes (actually, 22) because of the waiting list; I ended up doing 2.25 miles. To make up for it, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at the gym in my office complex at lunchtime on Tuesday. Then we had another 10.5" of snow on Wednesday, which made the roads worse, and I then ran another 2.5 on the treadmill on Thursday before my hamstring tightened on me. So 7.75 miles (and not good miles at that) for the week going into my Sunday long run.

My plan was to do 9 miles today, but the big question was "Where?". I scoped out some local lightly-traveled roads yesterday and put together a nice 9 mile run, which I completed this morning in 1:30:21. Another concern I had was wondering if my hamstring was going to give out, but I had no problem.

I really needed today's long run to clear my head. I was really getting a case of the winter blues, and with a 5 miler in 3 weeks and a half-marathon in 5 weeks, I was getting worried. Thanks to Coach Kevin Leathers for getting me through this.

The Courage to Start

OK, that's not an accurate title. I'm not trying to put myself in the company of real courageous runners (like Jen McDevitt); it's more like I'm being sarcastic about my level of wimpiness when it comes to running in adverse weather.

Here in Virginia, we got pelted yesterday with another 6 inches or so of snow. I was scheduled to do an 8 mile long run today, and I was miserable at the thought of having to do it on the treadmill again. You see, I don't particularly care for running in bad weather, be it rain, cold, or snow.

But this morning, as I was shoveling the inch or so of snow we got overnight, I came to the realization that it might not be all that bad to run on the hard-packed snow on the street. Forget the fact that it was 19 degrees; I've been very careful not to put myself in a predicament where I could strain my calf again. So after shoveling, I got ready to run.

And you know what? It wasn't that bad. There were sections of street where the snow was soft & slushy, which made it feel almost like running in sand. There was a good stretch of dry blacktop (thanks to the snow plows), and the rest, mainly was simply hard packed snow. The morning sun was blinding, and about 3 miles in, I felt that I had overdressed, since I was working up quite a sweat. But I finished the run with no complications, no muscle strains, and a nice, easy, 10:29 pace.

The difficult part for the rest of the week is going to be getting in my Tuesday and Thursday 4 1/2 mile runs. I'm assuming that the remaining snow on the streets will freeze, thaw, and re-freeze before I get out again, which will make it for some tricky footing at 4:30 AM. I just may have to revert to lunch time runs this week so I can see what's underfoot.

What Am I Going To Do??

The snowstorm that blanketed Northern Virginia with over 20 inches of snow this past weekend is going to wreak havoc with my training regimen for a while.

I was driving to work this morning, scoping out the streets in search of something uncovered in icy slush so that I could go for a run this week. No such luck. The streets of Lansdowne are partially covered in ice, some side roads are down to one passable lane, and the temperatures at dawn are going to be in the low 20's anyway.

So it looks as if I'm off to the treadmill for the time being. Cross-training, I'm fine. I have my stair-stepper (which I used this morning) and my weight set in my basement gym, so I'll have to trudge over to the Potomac Club to use one of the treadmills.

I also got to wondering, how will this snow affect the Rotary Resolution 10K Run in Leesburg on New Year's morning? The course is about 75% cross-country (aka, trails), and I don't believe that 20+ inches of snow are going to miraculously melt in 10 days. And even if it did, the course would be a sloppy mess.

Packet pick-up is this weekend, so I assume the organizer will have some further details. But for now, it's working out like a lab rat for me. Thank goodness for my iPod.