Sunday, February 11, 2007

Running the Frostbite and then the risking it

Experiment of one in full swing.

I don't know why I've written all this except that I enjoy the game of running. I'm a bit anxious about this run in March, but by now even I know I lack objectivity when it comes to my conditioning. There's nothing pressing and no problems to be seen. Just me blathering on about the progress I'm making into this uncharted territory in my running journey.

I feel as if I've had too little time to flirt with the Polar Bear 30km run across a small portion of Lake Winnipeg and frankly I'm intimidated by it. I've had eight weeks to prepare and now I'm half way through that. I shouldn't whimper, as eight weeks sounds reasonable when I see it written down here.

I've never run 30km and so far have topped out at the half marathon distance. Today I ran nearly 20km, and every time I ran in the snow on the shoulder of the road I was reminded of how difficult running in bad footing can be. My self deprecating voices are howling at me already. I need to believe!

I began the training in panic after January 18th and boosted my mileage by a third over two weeks. I stated elsewhere at the time that being as cautious as I've been over the past two and a half years should have left me something in the bank in the way of credit. I still have my fingers crossed and my eyes and ears sharply focused for signs of trouble in the hen house.

My failing immune system is the way I first see negative results from over training. I didn't run after Thursday February 1st until the following Tuesday for just that reason. Swollen glands and a tender throat being my cues. Through that period there was a wicked flu going through our house, but I have so far dodged that bullet. Am I pumped about that? Oh ya!

Last week I was in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island for five days. I got two runs in for a total of about ten miles. I loved wearing shorts again! Although before the second run I went and bought some body glide to save myself some pain. I slept really poorly while I was there and didn't get to bed until sometime after 2:30am on Friday night after flying home. Yesterday I ran the Frostbite 5km very easily and today did what I consider a long run of 12 miles. I ran it at least a minute faster per mile than I had intended to. I wanted to maybe go for longer, but I needed to see what the conditions were like before trying more. As it turned out, the day was a little spiteful in it's wish to freeze flesh. Anytime I was running into the wind I was hustling. I averaged an 11:50/mile pace and my last mile was 10:45/mile. The cold was very taxing today.

Once home, I had a long stretch and relaxed into the remaining part of the day and did little else, but stretch and eat wisely for the rest of the day. With any luck I'll rebound from this run well and take advantage of the continuing arctic high for more abuse from cold temperatures through the week.

Although there were no warnings about wind chill today, the frostbite was a problem. I managed to escape unscathed, but not by much. I was concerned for saftey on more than one occasion. I had people slow right down in their vehicles with looks on their faces like they were preparing to have me tell them some horror story of why it was I happen to be running up the road. Deeply furrowed foreheads on all of them. I guess it really was a bit cold today. < g > The highlight was having old Joe come up from behind me and ask me if I needed anything from town, like it was the most natural thing in the world to be out on such a fine day. I love that man.

I knew I needed a long run this weekend or early in the week so didn't care to put too much into the Frostbite 5km other than my participation (31:55). Today I was glad to have kept a lid on the energy output.

I took 1.5l of Gatorade and nearly froze it solid through the third mile. It froze in the tube of the Camelbak, but fortunately I got it freed up with some frantic vacuum action. Before I left it had been three hours since I ate and I knew I'd be needing the fuel and the liquid in the Gatorade. I ran out completely at the end of mile ten and by the beginning of mile twelve I was hungry. I haven't a clue what I'm going to do to cope with the 30km distance. I don't do well without fuel, but I guess nobody really does.

Do you consume more energy on long winter runs than warm summer runs? How do you cope with it? I figured that water and gels would have been better for me today, but I was thinking that the Gatorade would suffer the cold temperatures better by freezing more slowly. I think I was correct in that assumption, but for the first time while running, I was looking for food. Real food. Maybe I'll play with the Gatorade and food equation next weekend and do another longish run.

I've really noticed this winter that I can't seem to run slowly when I'm cold. I think it's time to spend some money on winter running gear. The options I have now are fine for most days, but in situations like today where the extremes are high between cold and warm miles, I'd like a little more wiggle room. Mile 11 was straight into a biting viscous wind that had me clipping along at a pace I wasn't really that interested in running. :P Keeping myself alive is a big motivator!

Back home, I hit the chocolate milk, set out to stretch for an hour or so then bit into some food. I hope I can suck this all up and run well on Tuesday.

I ran twice last week in shorts. Or did I mention that already? What a nice break it was from the arctic bite we have been having here. The west coast was good to me in many ways, not the least of which was the food. Fanny Bay oysters anyone? Next round for sure!
Back in the prairie saddle again.

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