Running outside in Winter has its pros and cons. Some of the nice things are being able to wear your sweet jackets, not sweating as much, and just straight up feeling like a badass being one of the few who braves the conditions while it's this cold. And it sure is cold here in the Midwest. Seeing lots more negative numbers this year than I can ever remember.
Last week I took a morning while my wife was out to lunch with a friend and our baby and went for a longer run. It's my go to 90ish minute loop around the lake we live near. It has plenty of rolling hills mixed in with some flat spots to mix things up. So it's always a good test for me.
The weather was looking decent, but a little cold. Ambient air temps were 10 degrees and the wind chill was pushing below zero. Not terrible, but still nice and brisk.
I trudged out of my door, contemplated my attire choice, then took off. No nutrition again. I never seem to have nutrition when I head out on this run. Not sure what it is. I just never have any handy.
The run started well, legs felt fresh and light. However, not having done anything over an hour for quite some time, I knew it would catch up to me eventually. I was wearing my heavier, less breathable trail shoes for more traction and warmth. Something I will typically do in winter or really wet conditions to ensure my feet stay warm and I remain upright. Rubber side down right?
So the first couple miles clicked off pretty easy. Then I started hitting the hills, thinking I could just maintain and move forward to the flat section. Not so much.
The roads hadn't been plowed so I was fighting fresh snow on top of ice. Lots of sliding and frustration. A few curse words here and there as I nearly met the pavement face first. But I remained upright, slowed my pace and chopped up my steps a bit.
I made it through the hilly section of rollers and was ready to loosen up a bit in the open flats running along the lake for a couple miles. Nope. Here came the headwinds. Probably in the vicinity of 15-20mph of just cold as shit wind. I hunkered in behind my neck gaiter and held on as my feet continued turning over. My pace continued dropping. This sucked.
There was a little glimmer as a felt like a true badass for being the only person I saw out running in these conditions. Not much to hang my hat on, but I made it work. Especially as the cars flew past me, kicking up more wind and snow into my face.
Once out of the wind it was to the home stretch, a few more rollers and a nice flat finish to my house. This is normally where I either kick for a finish or slow it down to cool off. Today neither sounded good. Slowing down meant going much slower than comfortable. Speeding up meant pushing my heart rate too high. Espcially this early in the season on a long run. So I just stayed calm and held onto my pace, and worked my way home.
It wasn't a bad experience overall. But given the choice again, I may have spent 90 minutes smarter on a treadmill getting what I wanted out of the session instead of surviving. It was a true test of my character to pursue the run and stay on my pace. I'm happy to look back and say I completed it, but if given the choice again, I may opt to stay inside.
-Dave
Comments