Got a late start on the run today – didn’t run in the morning and with several hours driving around shopping I didn’t get running until after 4 pm. Bit of a storm rolling in but I figured I could beat it and the storm was actually bringing warmer temps so I thought I should give outdoors a try.
Wow – that is a lot of ice out there – all the paths I run on were either polished sheet ice or uneven areas where people had walked through slush that then refroze and got slippery. The wind was wicked too and when the snow did start it got nasty. -18C (0F) with the wind gusting to 66 kph (41mph) and visibility down to 0.25 miles. The first bit of snow was more ice crystals and with the high wind it was actually hurting my eyes (should have brought my sunglasses). The light snow layer then started to hide the worst of the ice. I almost fell 3 times but luckily caught myself.
On a positive note my Nike Element Shield Max jacket did an awesome job – kept me nice and warm in the wind and the cold – in fact was a bit sweaty when I got back inside.
So in the end I did one of my standard 4.35 – 4.4 mile outdoor laps (instead of the 3 I planned) in 43:06. Not awful considering the ice really slowed me down. Even though the weather was not good it still felt good to get outside for a while.
Came back in the house – lost a few layers of clothes and got on the treadmill to finish out the run. Did 8.7 miles on the treadmill at 1% incline in 69:25. Again, not fast but not too bad considering my legs were a bit tight after how I had to run outside to avoid a ice dive.
Total of 13.1 miles in 1:52:31 not counting the transition time between outdoors and in.
Fun note – once I got off the treadmill the weather had gotten even worse – down to 0 visibility for a while. I also just took the garbage out and at least 3 inches of snow has fallen and the wind is still going crazy. I’m glad I came inside when I did!
Also looking back and considering I was running on ice and into crazy head winds the time for 1 lap was not too bad. I have had that same loop take over 45 minutes even much better weather. Hey! Maybe I’m getting better at this running thing!?
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