No, I wasn’t thrilled about getting out the door this morning. It was still pretty chilly out at around 14*F. The road was a patchwork of ice, black ice, slush, wet tar with patches of ice, and once in a while runnable pavement. Down-back was snow-covered, and the travel lanes not runnable. 

Yeah, I still ran this morning. 

After all, my running is about the idea that I get to run, not that I have to run, even though I still whine about conditions way too much. 😩

So I got to run.

The big snowflakes coming down when I started did give the run that snow globe effect and added to the run’s magic. Then the magic…errr the snow stopped about 10:00 minutes into the run, so I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other without the added visual effect.

My plan called for around 50:00 minutes of running, but I wasn’t too sure about that when I first started. I still felt the after-effects of yesterday’s snowblower workout in the legs and shoulders. Between the road conditions and the way I was feeling, 30:00-40:00 minutes probably was going to be about all I would get in.

I am running my Beacon 2’s more because they don’t bother my feet when I wear my winter socks. Today’s road conditions were not in the Beacon’s wheelhouse. The lack of traction from them was very noticeable in several sections, so I will be glad to get in the new shoes soon. 

Once I got going, the first mile was about getting warmed up and enjoying the scenery with the light snowfall coming down. It sure was pretty. Also, I learned where most of the nasty sections were, and by the time I completed the second lap, I had a pretty good idea of what lines I needed to take to avoid the worst of it.

Well, until the vehicle traffic started to pick up a bit. I admit that I am spoiled by living on a rural road that doesn’t have much traffic. At times I consider it an inconvenience when three to four vehicles come through during a run. Today I had to deal with five in just under an hour – which was too damn many.

Oh well, Harold, suck it up and deal with it. I did, but still, five vehicles in an hour are simply too many.

Getting back to reality.

I didn’t pick up the pace that much and went more by effort than worrying about speed. Each time the Garmin let me know the mile split, I wanted to look at the split time but didn’t. I didn’t need to know how fast, or should I say slow, I was running. So when I finished and looked at the lap times, I was pleasantly surprised at how consistent they were for the 6.0 miles. Not fast, but consistent.

During the run, I listened to my race playlist (an odd assortment of music), so my cadence stayed a bit higher than it would otherwise. I managed to keep it above the 170 SPM goal that I have for most runs, even when running slower.

Summary:

• Day: Tuesday – February 9th
• Time: 10:25 AM
• Course: Philbrick Laps – Finish at Lower Gate
• Distance: 6.22
• Duration: 56:26
• Pace: 9:04
• Running Streak Day #: 1

I did make the 50:00 minutes that I had planned! Yeah, yippee and all that other stuff. On laps three and four, I had to play some games to keep going, but nothing extraordinary. The usual stuff that runners do when they are not really into doing a run but still want to keep going.

Yes, I know that running outside in this weather is supposed to make me mentally tougher and all those other great things. However, conditions like this make me miss having the convenience and, yes, the safety of running on a treadmill.