Gloves...and Hats....and Pants...Oh My!!

10/17/09
Saturday

I knew my only chance to get in a good run this weekend would be early Saturday morning, anything beyond that would be pure luck. I had a busy schedule and I honestly did not cherish the thought of running in a cold rain. I woke up at 6 am and saw the reflective sparkle of frost on the vehicles as I switched on the outside light.

As much as I didn't want to give in to the weather change, it dawned on me that I would be smart to wear my cold weather gear today....this meant things like gloves and long running pants. I didn't want this, I wanted a nice sunny 60 degree run through the woods.

I am in my recovery season and am concentrating on base running. Normally I don't start recovery and base until after Thanksgiving, but ths year I am changing things up a bit.

The good thing about no immediate racing goal is the chance to run for fun and not have any guidelines to the run. As I stepped out the door and felt the cool briskness of the air, I could feel my nostral hairs freeze as I pulled my first breath into my lungs. I knew immediately this would be a great run.

I slid on the gloves and headed for the trail. I had no expectations other than wanting to run for at least an hour. I felt absolutely fantastic as I watched my frosty breath being forced out into a fog then slowly expanding until it dissapeared.

It was about 7 tenths of a mile to the pit road which gave me a chance warm up the bones a bit before hitting the trail. As I rounded the corner, the gravel pit wall was to my left and before I knew it, I was scaling the damn thing.

I remember thinking that this was not what I anticipated for an easy run yet I did say I was going to have fun .......what is more fun than climbing a loose gravel incline that tries it's hardest to send you sliding back to the bottom?

The pit wall is steep enough to force the climber onto all fours at certain points and as much as I tell myself not to grab at small vegitaion for support, I instintively grabbed a small tree and quickly found that it did not have enough root support to help me hurl my body up the slope.

Luckily I caught myself before barrel rolling the whole way back to the bottom, but still had gravel and dirt all over me. By the time I reached the top, I felt like I had run a marathon ... there wasn't enough air in the world to satisfy my lungs cravings.

I rambled around the pit trails for about 4 miles then ran a dirt road to the base of my killer training hill....Oakhill doesn't look like much and it isn't really that long but for some reason it is tough to run.

After cresting the hill I hit the Mushroom trail which for some reason was the slowest mile of my run. Usually the hill is my slowest and I pick things up in the trail. Perhaps it was the pit wall climbing catching up to me.

Anyway it is a mile on the road to finish this run off as I was already beyond my hour mark. Though I don't cherish road running, I was looking forward to the easyness of it. I was ready to just let my legs fall forward without thinking about foot placement. Sort of a cooldown I guess.

As I turned down my driveway, it dawned on me that a run with the Mrs. would be a perfect cooldown. It did not happen though as she had already taken her shower and getting her to run now would be fruitless.

I piled my clothes up semi neatly just in case she changed her mind or I got a chance to squeeze in a short run later in the day......it never happened, which is why I try to get my runs in first thing. Schedules tend to overlap and the running is suddenly pushed to the wayside. I guess this what happens when you have a family and obligations.

8 Miles 1:20:10 (10:02pace)

Splits:

9:35....128-155
9:37....145-157
10:32...149-159
10:01...147-151
9:46....148-156
12:22...147-160(I am suprised but this split....not sure why I slowed down?)
8:54....147-154