I arrived at the airport in Boston sweating through my 3 layers, because it was an unseasonably warm 40 degrees out. Fantastic, I say, until I push through the sliding doors and find a snow covered landscape... preserved faithfully by the not-sufficiently-above-freezing weather. ARGHHHHH... snow and ice on the ground, is by FAR worse than cold.
Running in Boston is... un-ideal. Its okay during the spring and the fall if you're able to take a lot of pavement miles, you can venture a lot of towns out into the hills and the nice little back country lanes... cuz everything's so small... but in the winter, its a nightmare. I don't even live near the trying-not-to-get-blown-into-the-river-by-gale-force-winds running path any more. Sidewalks are covered by a foot of crusted over snowdrift and probably a few weeks worth of preserved dog poo...
If you can get used to the vehicles whizzing around you, its maybe 50% tenable to run in the streets, but on larger streets, the cars splatter you with slush, or there's no room to avoid both the car AND the large puddle.... turning corners you have to take it really easy in case there's hidden ice. Its kind of an adventure, but more in the "I slightly fear for my life and can't ever get into a decent stride" sort of way, rather than the enjoyable sort of way. This is going to be... interesting.
Sunday 12/23: Off. Whole day shot due to being booted from my flight and not getting another one until 16 hours later. At least first class was enjoyable--mmmmmm ice cream sundae...
Monday 12/24: 42:00, First Boston run, to the old cemetary and back in a square. Same route as last time I was here, except with many, many detours to avoid traffic and weather phenomena. 45 and sunny is actually a lot more pleasant than 50 and dark, apparently. Was pleasant, except for the lack of ability to get any sort of rhythm at all bc of the constant zig zagging, back tracking, last minute swerving, almost getting hit by cars. Feet did not enjoy the pavement. I've also been slacking on PT and core strengthening, so maybe that has a little to do with it. Just so busy, so busy, so busy...
This week may end up being about damage control. Its hard to do all of the prep work away from home, the daily PT routine, the core strengthening, the gym is all far, far away. I'm also feeling less optimistic about the pavement running than before. Feet and also knees not liking this. Maybe will try for fewer longer runs to give the extra recovery time. Or, just take the down week now and build back up end of next week when I'm back in the land of trails and no snow.
Tuesday 12/25: 41:55, same loop as yesterday. Merry Christmas everyone!!! As a christmas present from the world to me, there were not many cars on the road today, and slightly less ice, making for a much more pleasant run. Knees and ankles also feeling better, managed to get in some PT and core strengthening as well. A nice day. Made a lot of food.
Wednesday 12/26: 45:13, did some adventuring to try to find my way back to the river path. Do not think I'll do that again. Between getting stopped for a really long time at a monsterously complex traffic intersection that only the east coast could have dreamed up, and realizing that the river path is mostly under 3 feet of snow, this was highly unpleasant. Got my first honk for being in the middle of a busy street--felt annoyed but then realized that that guy must have been from out of state, and/or the only sane one here, unaccustomed to the frequency of outrageous traffic phenomena. However, as "in a lane of traffic" is the only running space available here, I have no choice but to persist in consterning motorists with my presence....
A nice half mile hill on the way home, definitely not used to topographical features anymore... Wasn't as bas as I thought it would be. Wondered when I could add back the Bailey Canyon route again...
Thursday 12/27: 41:28, the cemetary loop again, in the cold and drizzle. Not a pleasant experience... outer layers soaked, could not see anything. Thankfully wasn't too too cold and not too many cars, could have been worse... but rain makes me grouchy. Felt a bit tired on the uphills due to yesterday's hill, but good on the flats. These runs are bad because I end up probably running faster and faster as I become more cold and uncomfortable and I don't even register it. Nothing alarming, but I'd prefer to keep a nice mellow intensity level for these first few weeks of getting used to the 40+ minute runs.
Friday 12/28: 41:00, same loop... not much room for creativity here. If I can find a relatively car and snow free route, its just not worth it to risk trying other streets. Realized that there's something about the cold and the cars that makes me subconsciously hurry. Each of these loops have gone faster than the previous one, but every day somehow during the run I've just rationalized away that well, I *think* my feet are moving about as fast as they were yesterday... I never thought the Arroyo was particularly exciting, but I think I'll appreciate traffic-less, snow-less, pavement-less running a lot more after this.
Saturday 12/29: 41:22, slightly more slowly this time. Yayyy! I have survived a week here, without an egregious drop in training time and so far, a lot of blisters but no stress fracture. I'll consider that a success. Pleasantly warm today, but did not have time to do the longer route, per being late for meeting my high school chemistry teacher for coffee. Everyone this break seems totally fascinated with the whole charter school thing. Interesting to hear how the systems are different in MA. Learned that I am inept at utilizing public transportation. I didn't think trying to use the pass card like a prox card was THAT illogical that the bus driver had to employ as much eye rolling as he did. *shrug*
Target training this week: 3:30 - 4:00
Actual training: 4:12:58
2 comments:
What do you run in (clothing I mean) when it's that cold outside?
UA coldgear base layer, plus windbreaker. it hasn't been that deathly cold overall, but the drizzle plus cold gets pretty miserable. gloves and hat are key :).
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