Woke up this morning to see that the temperatures were showing as -36C (-32.8F) with wind – and with a 20 miler planned I realized could not get that 20 miles done outside safely. I also couldn’t put that kind of stress on the treadmill (I’m still waiting for parts for my big one and our old one would definitely break down if I tried it on there).
I thought about a few different ways to get in the run but never really found something that would work for the family schedule today. But I did get a ray of hope from the weather forecast – it is showing much, much, much better temperatures for next weekend – that weekend was scheduled to be relatively light – so I made the decision to let the 20 miler go for this weekend and do it next weekend instead. I would then swap in 13.1 miles instead (broken into 2 runs) for today.
I got on the treadmill and did 2 light miles (17:08) and then got on with the rest of the day (which included getting the Christmas tree up and some of the decorations).
Then this afternoon, once there was time, I put on many, many layers of winter running clothes (up to and including 2 pairs of gloves) and headed out into the cold (it was -32C (-25.6F) with the wind when I went out). I quickly realized that I made the right choice not doing the 20 outside this morning – I almost went over on an ankle several times in areas that hadn’t been cleared from the Friday/Saturday snowfall (3-6 inches) and they were still clearing the neighborhood so the clear spots I did hit wouldn’t have been clear this morning (increasing the danger). I also realized about 5 miles in that some areas that were under even 3 layers of clothes were starting to get the tell tale cold burn – I finished off a shortened lap and got inside. In the end I got 6.4 miles in 58:47 outside – considering the cold and rough terrain that was a decent time.
I then dropped several layers of clothes, switched running shoes and got on the treadmill. I finished out 4.7 miles in 40:03.
That brought the total for the day up to 13.1 miles. Not quite what I had planned but I salvaged some good mileage and most importantly came out of it healthy!
That run then brings my total for the month up to 201.8 miles – my highest mileage month ever and my 3rd month ever over 200 (all 3 this year). So a great month for mileage…but can’t seem to shake a bit of disappointment for the month though.
I did not get in the speed work I wanted (damned treadmill parts) and I actually had 12.3 more miles on the schedule than I completed for the month (it was always an ambitious month in the schedule). I think my biggest disappointment is still missing the 20 miler today though – always hate missing those.
But still doing very good and I am looking forward to going into my last month of training for the Dopey Challenge!
Wow – just checked mileage for the year so far…1803.859 miles…can I hit 2000 this year? I hit 1400 last year so that would be a hell of a jump!
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