On the road

Yesterday the temperature warmed up to about minus 4 by mid afternoon. The sun had even come out, while the wind had taken the day off. Tim was keen on a run, and so was Luka. My schedule had 10K, but a lap around the 'hood of about 7.5K worked fine too.

This morning I woke up to a white view, and thought that today's 18K might be for the treadmill again. But the conditions and temperature were quite nice I found during the morning walk with Luka, and I decided to opt for the snowy outdoors instead of the Star Trac treadmill.

Aside from a fairly usual winter outfit including a fleece hat, I had added a fleece neck warmer. Since it was snowing,  I also wore sunnies. My feet would be comfy in the Hoka One One. It was nice to be outside, and I got into a rhythm quickly. I was perfectly comfortable - aside from a cold nose when I was moving into the snowy headwind.

Some were tiny but agressive flocks of snow that hurt my face or jumped straight into my airways. I couldn't pull the neck warmer to cover my nose without my glasses fogging up from my steamy breath having no other way to escape. So I took turns between enjoying a cold nose and foggy glasses, and repeat, by moving my neckwarmer up and down clumsily as my fingers were cosily trapped in warm thick gloves.

While I like winter, my kind of winter is pretty mild. Like an Australian winter.

I felt great and enjoyed the run, though by 6K and bearing the full brunt of a headwind, I tired a little of the neck warmer dance. It's funny how little things can get to you on some days, and I began thinking about cutting the run short. I didn't want to because my nose was the only source of discomfort. Obviously I needed more practice and a better head cover in this type of weather.

By 9K, the snow stopped falling, and it was all the encouragement I needed to keep going. I got home after 17K in 94 minutes, with an average pace of 5:35 per K and an average heart rate of 129 beats per minute. Today's run brought the five-day total to 73K.

Up next is tomorrow's recovery 10K, followed by 26K long run on Sunday when I might add a second run of about 5K in the afternoon.