I guess winter's here

Remember last Thursday when I got to run in shorts in January? You should, it was less than four days ago. It was 45 degrees that day but not for long. That night we went from the best January I can remember in Michigan to a typical winter in Michigan. I woke to find that the weathermen weren't kidding and we had plenty of snow covering the landscape and a few more inches to come throughout the course of the day. I'm glad we have had a mild winter thus far so I won't complain about the snow too much I just hope it doesn't stick around an extra couple of months since it took its time getting here.

The schedule for yesterdays long run said 18 miles which would be a welcomed break from the 19 we ended up running last week. I decided to crash on a friends couch Friday night because his apartment is right downtown meaning it was right around the corner from Gazelle Sports our launch site for the mornings run. During the pre run meeting they told us the typical "be careful" running message but also reminded us to adjust our pace and distance accordingly since the snow would make it more difficult.

Even though you could tell the overall group was smaller because people were detered by the snow it seemed like our group was bigger than ever. The pace group I've been running with is the 7:30 - 8:00 group and all of our runs throught the first four weeks we averaged right on the low side. Our pace group leader even joked she might lose her (volunteer) job if we go any faster. That would not be a problem this week.

Ever forget to use the rest room before a run? I have a couple times in the past and it's no fun for sure so now it's become the most important part of my pre run check list. Even though I made a deposit to the porcelain savings and loan pre run I still felt like I had to duece it up only a few miles in. That's right a few miles in...to a 16 mile run! (we agreed to downsize due to the snow) It might have had to with the large pizza and four guinness I put away the night before but who knows for sure. If I had to pee I for sure would have grabbed a tree or bush somewhere but this was a little less mid run friendly. I chose to hold it in and though it was tough I made it. When we finished I ran straight to my friends Apt. got inside and destroyed his bathroom haha. That's a good friend!

The snow definitely made the run more difficult. I was wearing my Cascadias hoping to get a little better traction out of the trail shoe. Quite a few people had on Yak Trax for the same reason. I have a pair but besides the fact I forgot them in the closet, I wanted to see how the trail shoes would do on their own. I think they helped a bit but like everyone else seemed to say, I was struggling for traction. We ended up carrying a 7:43 pace overall which for the conditions was great. The last couple miles were the hardest for sure. The wind had picked up and the snow was turning to slush that was no help when it came to traction. I also started to notice about four miles out that the finger tips on my left hand were freezing! They were practically numb by the end of the run. The fingers on my left hand were completely warm. I was wearing a pair of the brooks gloves with the flip out wind shield that makes them more like a mitten and I was using that and even pulled my hand inside my coat sleeve but nothing seemed to help. I realized when we finished that my watch seemed a little tighter than when I put it on. I think my wrist swelled up a little and caused the watch to choke off the circulation to my hand so I'll have to watch that next time. Has this ever happened to you? I've never really noticed anything like that before.

After the run and destroying my friends bathroom we met up for delicious breakfast. My favorite part of the weekend long run. I don't think the restaurants are as excited to see 20 or so of us sweaty runners pour in at once but they treat us well none the less.

When I got home I found my dad had stopped by and was finishing snow blowing the driveway! He rocks! My sister and I sure are spoiled sometimes! I shoveled what was left of the walk and drive for a little cross training. While we worked the dogs played. They seem to be more excited about the snow than I was. Poor Obie though had too much fun and broke a toe nail off. Luckily he's a pretty calm boy so he let me dress it up with some makeshift gauze and put a sock over it held on with what else but duct tape. My dad, sister and I then placed bets on how long it would take him to get it off haha! When he wasn't licking the sock he just layed there looking dejected. A look that he's perfected over the years.

Today I put in a half hour on the treadmill for recovery to loosen up the legs. I put on the ipod and really focused on my form today and it acutally made the dreadmill run seem to go by much quicker. I'm still not a fan of treadmill running but it was 10 degrees today and I figured by the time I got warm i'd be finished with my run so outdoors wasn't worth it. I had a friend say he ran 17 miles on the treadmill yesterday. He called me crazy for running outdoors yesterday; I called him certifiable for running that long on a treadmill. We agreed to disagree.

Obie enjoying his new footwear!



I hope you all had a good weekend as well and enjoyed the mild start to winter as much as I did!