Archive for January, 2010
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The More You Know
On Sunday I had intended to run 12 miles outdoors. It shouldn’t have been a problem, but it had snowed earlier in the week (Wednesday night). By Saturday, the snow had cleared from the roads. But to my surprise it had not cleared from the trails on Sunday
There were varying amounts of snow on the trail, from 1″ to 4″, all pretty uneven from tracks of other people, which is a recipe for a sprained ankle. In my moment of stubborn delusion, I hoped that maybe the rest of the trail had cleared, so I trudged on — but that was the stubborn runner talking.* After a slow mile out, and pain in my calves, heels, and finally (the breaking point) my left knee, I turned back. I was really disappointed and frustrated. It had been hard getting myself out there to begin with — after a week of promises that it would be 30° F, it was about the same temperature as last weekend (11° F), and to be honest, I kinda just didn’t really feel like it after a 6 day work week. I was frustrated, but decided that if I ran 8 miles on the treadmill at home, I’d get 10 total in. That means I can switch next week’s run (planned 10 miler) with this weekend’s.The 8 miles on the treadmill weren’t bad, and I ran between 9:30-9:40 minute miles. I do try to limit the long runs on the treadmill. I have a theory that the treadmill changes my gait and causes inflammation in my IT band. I think it may have contributed to a flare in the past. So, I am crossing my fingers that a) it won’t snow any more and b) that the snow will completely melt.
* I have another theory about running. I think most runners are stubborn people. This is a prerequisite for the sport. Running is hard, especially at first, and if it weren’t for stubbornness, we’d all just give up after 1/4 a mile. This is what carries us through a 5k or 26.2 miles. It’s not all good though (aka, the aforementioned stubborn delusion)- runners feel pain in their legs and ignore it or talk themselves into believing it’s not a big deal, causing them to get injured. My brother was running on a trail and encountered a rattlesnake. Instead of stopping and turning around, he considered jumping over it (presumably in order to complete his planned run). Luckily, he didn’t jump over it, but ran a different route and ended up making a 6 mile run into a 13 miler. I think I get the same thoughts when I get out there — there is little that could make me turn around and stop …and there is little that could stop a runner on his or her run. A rattlesnake is not one of them.
I don’t regret stopping the outdoor portion of the run at all. It was the wisest thing to do, and I would have really kicked myself if I ended up falling or spraining something. But doing the wisest thing isn’t always the thing you want to do at the moment.
The more you know.
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What I wore
It was as cold as a witch’s . . .
Well, it was as cold as that. I find running in really cold weather challenging. My body temperature (or perceived body temperature) vascillates as I sweat and as the wind hits my face. So I thought I would share how I deal.
First, I always go to Runner’s World’s What to Wear site here. It asks you, when you run do you like to feel a) warm; b) in-between or c) cool. I fall in the “in-between” category so that’s what I always choose. It told me that I should wear a winter hat, long-sleeved shirt, pants, a jacket, and gloves. Normally, I wear a Nike headband when RW tells me to wear a hat because I really hate being overheated, but today was especially cold. Like this guy:
It probably would have done the job fine, but there was a little bit of wind, so I wore a fleece hat for more coverage. Then, I had running pants like this:
Just some fairly basic Adidas running pants. They could have been warmer. My butt was awful cold to the touch after my long run. Then I had a new Under Armour shirt my parents gave me for Christmas: 
My review is that this shirt was fantastic. It’s loose so I don’t feel like bionic woman and it never had me too warm or too cold. On top of that, I had a black fleece jacket. The running jacket I have is far too thin for this weather. On the one hand, it was a good choice because it broke the wind and is certainly warm, but something strange happened – at the end of my run I looked over my shoulder and I was covered in white stuff. I thought I had leaned up against a dirty pole – but I touched it and realized it was tiny beads of condensation. Gross, and probably not helping my cause. Finally, possibly the best running-related purchase I have ever made, I had on these gloves:
What you can’t see from this picture is that the “mitten” is just a very light shell that you can tuck into a pouch and convert to gloves. This is so genius. My hands are the first thing to get too hot, and with regular gloves I might wear them for a mile and stuff them into my pockets to cool off, then take them back out a mile later when they are turning pink and cold, and repeat until the run is over. These gloves end that problem (and no, no one is paying me to say this . . . unfortunately).I’m no going to lie, by the end of the 11 mile run today, I was still cold as hell. I was really lookingMJ forward to slippers, a hot shower, and a warm beverage.
The training plan pace suggestions are really slow for my long runs. So, I’ve been kind of … totally disregarding them. I just go for what “feels right”. Apparently 9:35 felt right. 10:30 pace was suggested and I didn’t have a real problem not following this suggestion, it was just way too cold to dilly dally out there. Here are my splits:
Mark says he burned over 1200 calories today on his P90x workout, which as you can see is more than I did. Craziness.
The plan for the upcoming week is this:
M: 10-20 w/u, 6X 800m (8:15) (1:30 RI), 10 c/d
W: 5 mi @ 9:15 pace
S: 12 mi @ 10:30
The FIRST plan recommends cross training on non-running days. The plan is pretty bare bones – one interval run, one tempo, and one long run – but I’m totally fine with that.
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My name is Michelle and I like to write about running, food, and fitness in general. Check out my About Michelle section for more!
