Towards the end of the week it started getting cold, or should I say it started actually feeling like winter. Temp when I ran was only in the low 30s if that and wind chills in the teens. Saturday they were calling for 12-20 inches of snow, which is nice to look at and fun for the kids but makes it tough running. When I woke up Sat morning it was barely snowing and then actually stopped around 10am, after running some errands and what not I decided to get my run in so at least I wouldn't have to do it on the treadmill on Sunday. I had spoken to a friend of mine who ran in the morning and he encountered quite a bit more snow, he said his eyes hurt from the wind and the snowflakes hitting his eyeballs. I decided to where my sunglasses, under armor shirt and gloves, my cw-x tights, windproof Brooks jacket, roadrunner windproof tights and hat. Put my trusty iPod on and off I went. I was significantly slower then normal, part of it had to do with the less then ideal traction and the other part was the nasty headwind I was running into. It was about 20 degrees when I left and lightly snowing, windchill had to be in the single digits. By mile three my sunglasses were completely fogged and my hands were cold. By mile 5 I had been wiping ice off my sunglasses and I couldn't feel my hands, at this point I had been running into the wind the entire time. I decided to head for home and run the remaining mileage on the treadmill, but even though the conditions were horrible I was dreading running on the treadmill more. Over the next few miles I started to feel my hands again and convinced myself to finish up the run outside. It is amazing the things you start thinking when out running for that period of time in horrible conditions. Here are a few that passed through my head Sat:
It started with my hands are really cold and went straight to could I get frostbite from this?One side note, tar snakes I think have less traction in the winter then a hot summer day, I quickly learned that they were basically ice underneath the snowflakes that covered them.
The ever revolving thought of why am I doing this to myself, I could be at home doing anything else and I would be really warm!
I should go back home followed only shortly by this is what Boston training is all about!
After finishing the final four miles running within a half mile of my house, figured I could go inside at any point so I stayed close, I was COLD. I had ice chunks on both eyebrows, my hat was frozen, and there were section of my jacket with ice covering it. I took a picture and sent it to a few friends, one commented it looked like I just got back from the North Pole.
After a protein drink and hot shower it took a good hour to warm back up, but that is what training for the best marathon in the world will do to you......
