The Snow Syndrome

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  With today's snow, I'm officially tired of winter, and I'm ready for spring.  I realize that this is not a new topic in the running blogsphere, but now I find myself drawn into the discussion.  I'm tired of sub-30 degree temperatures, 10 degree wind chill factors, dodging icy patches, snow pelting my face (okay, the snow is still cool, but I'm okay if it goes away), and slipping through the slush.  I'm sick of snot dripping down face, my breath burning from the cold, and then my breath freezing to my face.  I'm ridiculously tired of digging through my duffle bag for a pair of matching gloves and a hat, putting on enough layers so that I feel like I'm running in a sleeping bag, and peeling off wet, slushy socks after I'm done.  Now, the uninitiated and the neophyte might suggest that I try running inside on an indoor track, or God forbid, a dreadmill.  The problem with indoor tracks that I could use is that they tend to be narrow and short, so I never build up a great amount of speed without barreling through a crowd of walkers.  Then I also have to deal with the overwhelming feeling that I've turned into a giant hairless hamster running endlessly on that short track.  Ugh.  I won't even go into the numerous ways that I detest the treadmill.  Nope.  If I'm going to run, it better be outside. That being said, I blame that damn groundhog for all this snow.  Okay, now for the hard numbers:  I did an easy 5.2 mile run at 8:14/miles.  I didn't plan on going that hard, especially after a grueling 11 mile run yesterday, but I still managed the strong pace.  I'm still exploring the Country Music Marathon route, and I'm pretty confident that I'll have it down eventually.  Of course, it would be nice if the weather cleared up to do a decent long stretch of the course.  Well, enough ranting.  Have fun and run hard!

The Snow Ninja Experience

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Earlier today, I thought about posting how I hated the snow and how it was interfering with my training schedule, and for the record, I do and it did.  Let me repeat:  A little brown man from a little island in the Pacific does not like snow and ice.  I had planned to get in another 11 miles at PWP, but thanks to the snow and ice, I can't even leave my driveway.  To be fair, I'm dumb enough to make a trip out to PWP, but even if I somehow managed not to slip and slide down any of the numerous hills in PWP, I doubt that I would survive the beating from my wife when I came back.  Instead I got in an easy 3 miles.  Of course it was only easy in terms that I ran slow, slow, slowly.  Running in the snow and ice was like running in mud.  My steps felt heavy and plodding.  This experience wasn't helped by the fact that I had to bundle up so heavily that I could barely move my arms or legs.  No lie, it felt like that I had added another 5 lbs to my body with my trail shoes and 3 layers of clothes.  I did get pretty warm around mile 1.5 so I had to take off my red pullover.  The upside to this move was that I was rocking the running ninja look.  Awesome.  Now for the hard numbers:  3.15 mile easy run at 9:53/mile.  Geek Tip:  In honor of ninja day, I give you this review.  As manga goes, Naruto is a great read for runners.  Naruto has gained a lot of mainstream attention thanks to Cartoonnetwork.  Basically it's the story of a kid who's trying very hard to be the best ninja that he can be.  He's not the best or most skilled, but he does have a secret power.  He also has lots of guts and determination.  If Pre were a ninja, he would have been Naruto.  Naruto doesn't give up and isn't afraid to put it on the line to accomplish his goals.  He locks onto his goal, digs deep into his secret power, and usually manages to come out on top.  If that isn't a metaphor for runners, I don't know what is.  Okay kids, I need to go warm up my toes.  Have fun and run hard!