12 posts tagged “snow”
When I finished physical therapy over a week ago, my trainer and I concluded that the hamstring was about 90% healed. Good news indeed, but in the days since it seems like things have regressed slightly, say 85%. That's not much, but any negative trend is cause for concern.
Then it hit me - I've been doing my running on trails in deep snow. Hilly, off-road terrain is difficult enough without slogging through a foot of snow in chilly weather, and it may have been too much stress for my hamstring given its condition.
Yeah, I know... DUH. I should've known better but live and learn.
Today I hit the treadmill indoors where the the air is warm and the surface is flat and unobstructed. What a difference! The first mile was conservative at a 10:00 pace, then I upped it to 9:45 for mile 2, then 9:30 for mile 3. No problems! I decided to cautiously test my hamstring and began ramping up the speed in small increments during mile 4, promising myself I would go back down if I felt ANY hint of tightness.
By the time I hit 4 miles I was running an 8:00 pace and the hamstring felt great! Staying conservative I made that my limit and held the 8:00 for half a mile before running the last 0.5 at a 10:00 pace, resulting in 5.0 miles in 47:24. Very encouraging!
Best of all, no stiffness or soreness at all in the three hours since the run. Given these results, I might have to resign myself to doing lots of 'mill work until the weather warms up. The extended forecast shows no temperatures over 30 degrees for the next week and a half, so I might be waiting a while. If that means my hamstring will be 100% by springtime, then it's worth it.
The other encouraging news is that my HR was 140-150 at the 9:30-10:00 paces, and stayed at 160 for most of the faster paces until the half mile at 8:00, when I topped out at 170. That's pretty much where I was before the injury, so aerobically I haven't lost much fitness at all. My resting HR earlier today was 56, down from the 60 it reached during the nadir of my non-running but not quite the 54 that was normal before the injury.
Boy did it feel awesome to move my legs at a 8:00 pace! I can't wait to run a 6:00 pace again, even if it's only for a minute.
What are 10 things you've done that other people probably haven't?
Submitted by Janette.
1. Run with my dog in 8" of snow without snowshoes and carry some road trash home. (OK, that was a shameless plug for my latest Why Run? article. Forgive me.)
2. Worked my first ever job after college as an internship in Munich, Germany.
3. Completed the solo cross country phase of flight training yet never got a pilot's license (the solo cross country is about two steps away from getting a license).
4. Drove for one solid minute on a freeway in pitch darkness (no streetlights, no moon, no traffic) with my headlights turned off. Nobody said these 10 things had to be smart.
5. Memorized the entire poem The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
6. In 2nd grade I associated every letter and number with a personality. "A" is confident, "W" is kind, "4" is friendly, "E" and "6" are mean, "R" is aggressive, "7" is social, etc...
7. Never been drunk, never smoked, and never religious.
8. Never paid for cable/satellite TV (had cable for free one year in college because it was never turned off from the previous tenant; otherwise I've never had more than bunny ears TV).
9. Passed a car on the road while riding my bike more than once (going down a hill around a curve that limited cars to 30 mph but my bicycle was able to maintain more speed in the turn).
10. "Crossed the streams"... my two brothers, two cousins and myself, after watching Ghostbusters, all five of us took a leak in the backyard at the same time and managed to cross the streams to fight the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. My aunt witnessed this and just about died with laughter!
I got out for a great run tonight despite the 12 degree temperature. I ran 5.6 miles on the trails in just over an hour, my first hour+ run since early October 2007! My hamstring is fine right now so it must be close to fully healed. My lungs better stop slacking off or else the legs will be ahead of them again soon!
I had the trails to myself; perhaps the cold weather kept others at home? Three layers of clothing kept me warm while the trees helped block the wind. On the trails my footprints weren't lonely - there were some tracks to pique my interest such as dogs, deer, and then... a coyote! I never got to see it, though - that would've been cool!
"April showers bring May flowers" so the saying goes, but I don't think those flowers had snow in mind! Isn't this crazy? But it makes for fun running - I ran some new trails today and got snowed on, a subject for the latest entry on my Why Run? blog. Here's the view out our front window this evening:
I ran 7 miles on Friday at work and the time just flew by - a co-worker were having a great discussion (i.e. debate) about space exploration and the consumption of resources on the planet. Pretty heavy stuff! We were having so much fun talking that we just kept running - my co-worker hadn't run that far in years!
Today was another "treadmill date" with Amanda. I kept it easy today doing a 9:00 pace, planning to go 7 miles. I felt so good at the end, however, that I kept going until 8.5 miles. I stopped then because Amanda and I had errands to run, but my legs were begging to continue!
When we got home today we played with Haven and Beacon in the backyard. I found some gigantic icicles hanging off the carport and brought them out for the pups, and boy were they excited to see me holding a couple huge "treats" over my head! They sat obediently, hoping to impress me enough to earn a reward:
Beacon had been content with his icicle until he spotted Haven with an even BIGGER one, and naturally he became jealous. He transformed into predator mode, crouching low and staring intently before chasing after Haven and mugging her for the goods:
Satisfied that he now has the biggest and baddest icicle, does Beacon chomp down like a vicious predator? No, he wants to savor his treat just like a kid with his popsicle at the Tastee Freez:
This evening's weather was about 10 degrees cooler than Tuesday's awesome run; however, today's run royally sucked. The 6" of snow was still on the trails, but instead of being soft and wet, this time it was crusty-hard on the top and lumpy-hard underneath. It felt like 50% of my energy was spent preventing myself from going sideways or backwards! I only went 5.4 miles at a 9:40 pace, but it felt like an 8:00 pace.
Wanna know how difficult the footing was? Even Haven had trouble keeping her footing! If a dog is stumbling, a human is in for a world of frustration.
Nevertheless, once Haven and I finished I was glad we had gone running. They usually end that way. :)
Days like today. After weeks of temperatures below 20 degrees, today we hit 40! It felt like spring. My legs are still very sore from playing hockey over the weekend. Actually, just my hip flexor muscles, my right one in particular - I can't raise my right knee halfway to my waist! But I wanted to go running away, so I went for an easy one.
I took both Haven and Beacon and dealt with the extreme pulling as we ran the half-mile to the North Country Trail trailhead, then I was able to let them off leash. They loved it! So did I. The wind was calm, the sun was setting, the air was warm. Warm enough that I was wearing shorts despite running through six inches of wet snow! What a blast!
A perfect run. I have to remember days like this on those other days when I don't feel like running, because being able to run with my dogs on days like today is one of the reasons why I'm a runner.
Lots of running stuff to catch up on, so I'll do it bullet-style...
- The day before Valentines Day I ran with my "second loves", my dogs. It was 14 degrees and very windy, but they loved it. Back to back, first Haven for 2.9 miles at an 8:20 pace, then Beacon for 1.4 miles at a 7:12 pace. Dogs were born to run.
- Still running outdoors with my co-workers, but some of them are wussing out on account of the weather. Monday the 12th we endured steady snow flurries that made it hard to see (snowflakes on the eyelashes) and "balmy" temps in the mid 20's, the warmest we've had in a couple weeks. Wednesday the 14th we braved 9-degree air temperature with strong north winds. Today it was 19 degrees with a howling WSW wind.
- Thursday was a double workout. At 6am I was already running on the treadmill at work doing "pops" - alternating 5 minutes of fast pace (ranging from 5:30 to 7:00 miles) with 5 minutes of slow pace (9:00 miles). Then before leaving work I hit the 'mill again, this time doing hill repeats - 2.5 minutes at incline alternating with 2.5 minutes of flat. My first incline I jacked it all the way up, which was 15% grade - holy crap, I just about fell off the back at a 10:00 pace! I barely survived that one. The rest of my inclines were at 10% grade.
My legs are rather tired now, so tomorrow will be an easy one-hour run on the treadmill with Amanda. I also signed up for my next race, another 5K on March 17.
Remember the Hoth Wampa creature from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back? It would've enjoyed the weather for today's run: -1 degree air temp, -20 windchill, roads covered in packed snow... Luckily I didn't encounter the Wampa!
Actually I didn't feel very cold - it helped that the sun was out, which caused the temp to rise all the way to +5 degrees by the end of my run. I dressed quite appropriately: screw shoes, wool running socks, heavyweight tights, long-sleeve fleece, wind jacket, thick gloves, ear warmer around my neck, ear warmer around my ears, hat, sunglasses, and most importantly a fleece scarf around my face. That scarf really saved my nose and lips when running into the wind, but it's tough to suck air through the fabric! Whenever the wind was at my back I pulled the scarf down. By the way, screw shoes are a dream on hard-packed snow! I had very little trouble getting traction.
None of my usual co-workers dared to brave the elements with me and preferred instead to remain at Echo Base. That's OK - the Force was with me and I had a great run, somehow managing a 8:20 pace under the weight of all that gear!
Running under similar conditions, newmanmlb was inspired to create a cool t-shirt motto for runners - I wish I could've worn one today while running past all the startled shoppers as they scurried to and from their fat SUVs.
It's 4 degrees Fahrenheit, -18 wind chill, roads are covered with snow, and Amanda and I went running!
