Do What I Say, Not What I Do

Tonight we had the talk on clothing. Thankfully, I wasn't leading it! I think I was the prime example of "what not to wear" tonight.

A check-list of the winter runner's "must haves":

• Headlamp?
• Nope! I forgot it.
• Reflective gear?
• Oh, I knew I was missing something!
• Ice grips for shoes?
• I'll buy them eventually. Maybe.
• Base layer
• Yes! 
• Fleece layer
• Yes! Go me! On the outside, but it counts!
• Windproof layer
• Oh, did I need that?
• Wool socks
• Nope
• NO cotton
• Quick! Nobody look at my pants! Or socks...
• Safety items - e.g.: cell phone, ID card, money, emergency contact details
• I keep meaning to do this one day, but...

But never mind that. I do plan to go shopping for proper winter weather running gear (that's a tongue twister! Say it three times fast) at some point this winter. Or next fall. Or, you know, maybe never since I'm not sure if I'll ever run in winter again.

But one thing I was very proud of myself for doing: showing up, and running the 3k. Let me tell you, I did not want to be there. But a leader leads by example after all! And so if I couldn't be a model in winter weather running gear*, at least I could be a model for dragging my butt out of the nice cozy house and around a 3k loop. And the best part? The trail was sanded! So when all the non-Sunday runners were complaining at how slippery it was, I was strutting my way to the finish line.

*winter weather running gear, winter weather running gear, winter weather running gear! ... See? Tongue twister!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Everybody STOP!

...no, really STOP! That ice was brutal on Sunday. With the other clinic instructor sick, I was representing.

At first, I was really excited when none of my clinic runners were showing up. Maybe I could just jump back in the car and head home?! At -27C outside, I was more than happy for this option. But two showed up at the last minute, so out we went.

The goal: 7k
The weather: -22C, but "feels like" -27C with wind chill...as every Canadian can appreciate, in winter we have two weathers: the temperature weather and the wind chill weather

We stuck to the route near home, just in case anybody got the chills and needed to go inside. I was only slightly worried about the cold, since I can now say "been there, done that" ever since New Year's Eve. But the ice! The ice was killer!

At first the ice was covered in a pleasant 3 inches of snow, which provided some grip. This still proved tricky, as every step resulted in small slip. I naively thought it was pretty icy out. Then when we were halfway through our 7k, a city worker could be found kindly sweeping up the snow in a machine. Or at least, I thought it was kindness.

But unfortunately it meant we hit the trail between the snow clearing and the sanding. Meaning: ZERO traction. The ice turned treacherous. I'm talking, we could barely walk without slipping...it was more of a "shuffle glide" sort of move. Luckily, we were close to our one minute walk-break. This turned into a 3-minute walk break until we were passed the worst of the ice.

But then we had a problem: with 3k to go we had completed the loop. The slick, freshly cleared trails gleamed at us with icy nastiness. What to do?

We took a shorter circuit the next time, having determined that the far side of the river proved far less icy. I managed to figure us a way back (avoiding as much of the icy patches as possible) at a nifty 6.96km.

Half-heartedly, I offered for those wanting to get in the full 7k we could keep going another 40m. This was happily shot down by the clinic runners.

Understandably, we went back into the store to do our cool down stretches.

My hips ached all that day and the next...I think it was from all the stabilizing I was doing trying not to slip in that ice. I am T-5 days out from an epic trip to SE Asia and I'll be darned if I sprain my ankle before I go!

Whoops!

The distance: 4k

The actual distance: 4.87k

Whoops! We planned an out and back route, but then I suggested we do a loop instead. Only…the loop gave us the option of doing 3.5k or 4.87k. I opted for the 4.87k to the displeasure of some of our group members who were planning for a simple 4k! I can relate to them. I know sometimes I get frustrated by that as well if someone else is planning the route. Oh well, nobody’s perfect! I’m starting to sympathize more with my coaches. When everyone came to me and asked me our route for the night I felt like a deer in headlights.

It’s all a learning experience, what can I say? And really, anyone who thought putting me in charge was a good decision should have known better!

An Accidental 3k

The weather: -7C

The clothes: enough!

The distance planned: 4k

 

It was dark and slippery, so we picked our way around the route. Thank goodness for headlights! 

There was a bit of confusion over which bridge we should cross to head back and instead of running 4k, we ran 3k. Fortunately everyone was fine with the error and we agreed that our next run (set for 3k) would instead be a 4k. Simple swap!

Following the Leader

The weather: -7C (no wind chill)

The layers: 3 on bottom, 3 warm layers on top, fleecy buff, neck buff, gloves

Comments on layers: I felt warm to start. In the last km I noticed I was starting to cool down as my sweat froze. It was easy to de-layer if I needed to and I did take off my gloves partway through, though didn’t de-layer any further than that.

A nice comfortable distance of 7k. We had a nice small group of 7, and all of us ran at a similar easy pace. I really should start wearing a heart rate monitor! I’m curious if I can make this training work into my heart rate zones. My knee ached very mildly towards the end, but nothing to really comment on.

The one thing I was kicking myself for towards the end was that I had been planning to focus on the route so I could draw a mental map of the St Albert region in my mind. This would help me learn how to plan out my own routes and know where I’m going on these long runs…but I got caught up in conversation as I “followed the leader” and forgot to pay attention. Oh, well! There’s always next week…

They Must Be Crazy

I’m now officially a co-coach for the half marathon clinic…formerly the marathon/half marathon clinic but nobody signed up for the full marathon. I have no idea what I’m doing and as we started I couldn’t help but think, “What were they thinking? Are they crazy?” But here I am, and fortunately I have an experienced co-coach who is happy to take charge. So I will just take this as a learning experience and do my best.

But at the same time I feel such a weight of responsibility. We’ve done two 3ks so far, and in both of them I was like a mother goose keeping all my goslings in a line. Is everyone doing okay? Is everyone feeling alright? Is everyone together?

Our runs were on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both runs were lots of fun. Short and sweet! I do quite enjoy the 3k distance in the evenings. Get in, get it done, get home. And it’s a lovely group of ladies, which means lots of amiable chatter. That being said, the run on Wednesday night was also a very tough mental challenge. Why? Because we had freezing rain the day before, making the trails slick with black ice. That, plus the running after dark made it difficult to see the shine from the ice. I had a headlight, but it only helped minimally. I slipped a few times and had to really slow down my game. By the end of that 3k I was mentally exhausted! It reminded me of when I used to trail run, in that you have to be constantly focused on where you are and your environment.

The really good thing about coaching is that it is going to teach me to really slow down all my runs. Apparently, that’s the way to improve heart-rate training which will improve my overall running fitness. I’m game to try it!

So that was the (more or less) good news. But there is some bad news too... I have my own personal little storm cloud in the midst of this challenge. The storm cloud is in the form of my right knee, which is constantly aggravated on my runs.

I had an ultrasound done this week, which showed a little of this and a little of that...but nothing to account for my knee pain. So, I've been referred to get an MRI. Fingers crossed it’s nothing that will impact on my training...

Personal Record! On New Year's Eve!!!

"There is no such thing as bad weather; only bad clothes."
-Runner

If you're going to close off the year, might as well close off with a BANG and get a new Personal Record (PR)!!! Which I did, so yeah, pretty pumped!

It was not a record in speed, nor in distance. No, my friends. My new record is: The Longest Distance I Have Ever Run In -28C.

Yep, that's right -28C.
The goal: 10k.
The layers: 3 pairs of thermals top & bottom; two pairs of pants, a fleece vest, a wind breaker, a full fleece, gloves, toque, and fleecy neck-warmer.
The layer I forgot: Vaseline for the exposed skin.

The crazy brave souls ready to start running. Can you spot me? Blue fleece, light blue neck-warmer, black toque. kind of in the middle.

I was very nervous at the store! I think all 8 of us hardcore crazies were*. Everyone else had the Right Idea and chose to stay inside. As everyone put on their big winter mitts, I worried that my piddly little running gloves weren't going to be warm enough. But, I reminded myself, you're always taking your gloves off mid-run, as your hands get so warm.

Oh, well! Here I was to try!

The manager kept things smart: we were doing a 5k loop, which would put us no further than just over 2km from the store if things went wrong. The halfers were aiming to do 16k, but I felt that 10k (two laps) was enough for me. I was grateful as I had no desire to be far from the store in case I wasn't dressed warmly enough.

Thankfully, I was! There was no de-layering, and no strong wish for extra layers. I quickly learned that it was too difficult to breathe through my fleece neck-warmer properly, so I popped that down to my chin. Within two km I had the delightful feeling of my eyelashes freezing over. Quite fun, really. I loved looking at the world through tiny icicles. It feels like winter.

I ran the first loop with my buddy Mike. Mike is awesome. Mike is Mr. Encourager. We had a great time together...alternating between talking and breathing. It was tough! I've never run in so many layers before. I felt both weighted down and restricted in my movements.

At the end of the first loop, we saw a fellow Running Room gal, who joked about "I've been joined by a new friend". I thought she meant us. Then Mike contributed, "there's a moose on the loose!", and I thought...that's a little bit insulting to say to a girl!

And then I saw the moose. The REAL moose. Gangly legged and all. This one was just a calf, but it was way taller than I was. It was munching on some twigs from a tree next to the path...that would be our running path! That moose was only 10m away. We slowed to a stop to admire it, snap some photos (for the smart people who thought to bring camera phones), and get pretty excited about our wildlife encounter. Then off we went back to the store!

Yes, we were that close to this moose, and I still wouldn't have spotted it without someone pointing it out first!

At this point, some of the runners called it a day...the cold can bring out some aches and pains, and they chose the wise path of listening to their bodies.

Mike and I both felt great, so after a brief pause to farewell our comrades, we continued onwards.

Loop 2 was a bit tougher, as I was starting to feel fatigued. Interestingly, we both noticed that our walk breaks were at the same areas, which was kind of fun. I also noticed frost developing along my hips, arms, and torso...places where my sweat was starting to evaporate! It was kind of fun to see. Mike warned me that my cheeks had also become frosty. They didn't hurt, and every time I breathed out I could feel my cheeks warming a bit from the humidity of my expiration, so I wasn't too worried. That was when I learned about the benefits of Vaseline, though. Next time, I'll remember! Ha...listen to me talk as if there will be a next time!

We finished the second loop - including adding on a set of stairs - and did a bit extra to make it a full 10k. When we finished, some fellow runners/store workers took a few photos .

Post-run! My expression says it all. What you can't see is all the frost that melted off my cheeks and eyelashes...the store was pretty warm when I got back inside!

*In case anyone is wondering why on earth I would choose to go out in this weather...I have a doctor's appointment for Tuesday to see if we can figure out a solution to my bad knee! As I haven't been running, my knee hasn't been sore. Kind of hard to get a problem diagnosed when it's no longer a problem! So I knew I really had to push my knee before my appointment...The good AND bad news is that after my 10k run today, my knee isn't sore. So out I go again tomorrow...