Sunday, January 29, 2012

6K in the Snow :)

Change the colour of the runner's jacket to neon orange & black, and this is what I pretty much looked like on my Sunday run. :)

I took Friday off after running my first three days in a row, and Saturday proved to be just too busy to fit it in an intended short run.

I was aiming for a long(er) run today. Ben and I usually take the dogs out to a friend's farm on the weekend so they can run around and wear themselves out. I've noticed a solo female runner a couple of times, and was reminded of the hours and hours I spent on my bike, cycling on a similar concession road, when I was a kid/teenager growing up in the country. This gave me the idea to copy her. :) So today, after bundling up in my winter running gear, Ben dropped me off on a sideroad and headed to the farm with the dogs on his own where we agreed to meet. :)

This was a fun run. :) I was dressed appropriately for the weather, and it was sweet to be out solo for a change (sans dogs) out in the quietness of the country. Only a few cars passed by, which was sweet, because I had the road all to myself. The sideroad itself was good for running; enough had fallen to make it crunchy rather than icy, and there had been enough car traffic to depress the snow somewhat. I ran by a few horse farms which are usually very pretty and scenic. :)

However, it was a lot tougher once I turned onto the concession road. The snow on the road was not a compacted as on the sideroad so it was much tougher to run in. I was now running into the heavily falling snow, which also made a difference. It was soooo much more challenging , but after warming up properly for ~3K, I could handle it better than if I was trying to trek through this from the start.

When I was at the 5.5K mark, Ben drove up beside with the dogs. It had been tough for him on the ATV in the falling snow as well, and he could not pick up any speed without the wet snow making it both painful and hard to see. I was a little disappointed to see him because I had planned to run 10K (regardless of the conditions!), but now that he had packed it in, I couldn't ask him to wait around. Instead, we agreed to meet up at the next corner to give me another 1/2K+ so I could achieve 'more' than half my goal. :) In that last half km, the weather worsened so maybe it was just as well that my run was cut short.

Off tomorrow and 'official' half marathon training (within reason) starts Tuesday.

SIDE NOTE:

One of my running friends has her treadmill stored in a friend's garage because it won't fit in her new condo. She recently offered it to me for free. :) She promised me that it is a good, solid commerical-eque type of treadmill, and not a cheapie that feels crappy to use. We were scheduled to pick it up today, but my friend and I decided to wait until later in the week when the weather was better.

Once the treadmill is at our place, we will need to have it properly serviced through the Treadmill Factory (hopefully this will not cost us an exorbitant amount of money!). We considered buying a treadmill almost a year ago, when debating whether to purchase a club membership or an @home machine. At the time, we decided that the membership, which could be cancelled after a commitment of one year, would be the best investment. Now we have an opportunity to try both and see what works for us. I have the future treadmill area set up already, with all of my race bibs on one wall, and my medals/framed half marathon bibs on the other. :) Pics will be posted once the TM arrives. :)

2 comments:

  1. A sweet run and peaceful for sure. It is always nice running alone with just you and your thoughts. The crunching snow is really fun, my favourite types of runs.

    Have fun with the treadmill. I hate them but really enjoy the spin bike. At least you will not have to stop training when it snows large.

    Looking good on the injury comeback, but slow and steady please.

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  2. I think it's awesome that you're getting a treadmill! I bet it looks sweet with all your medals around it :)
    I hope you keep us updated on which you prefer - a gym membership or the gym. because I may be faced with my own decision soon, as I can't be a member at my university gym once I graduate.

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