sporty: December 2004 Archives
One of the best things about living where we live is that, while our winters get cold, we also experience some unseasonably warm days when we least expect them. The temperatures today were expected to hit 60, with tomorrow and Friday even warmer. It was around noon when I stepped out the door to go downtown to get coffee, noticed the weather, and went right back in to get my bike gear. Twenty minutes later Jose the bike and I were headed out the door for my first ride on the road since October.
As luck would have it, not long after hitting the road, the weather changed. The sun disappeared, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped. I was wearing nothing but a jersey, bike shorts, and arm and leg warmers. And I was really REALLY cold. Ten minutes later I noticed that not only had it suddenly gotten really cloudy, but it looked like the sky would begin to spew rain or snow at any moment.
My wiser side told me to turn back, take my workout inside, and get the coffee I was craving,e specially when I realized that if it DID start to rain, I would really have problems. But my wannabe-hardcore-tri-chick side said to go on and I managed to get in a good 20 miles despite frozen fingers and toes and nose. I had the dark lenses in my glasses and once the sun disappeared behind the clouds, it became really dark. I tried taking them off, but my the icy wind blowing into my eyes was making it impossible to see. Admittedly, my chillyness was due to my own negligence in dressing properly, but I must say, I felt hardcore out there.
While I have always loved winter running, this was my first winter road ride. I usually manage to ride outside till November or so, but after that its watching trashy TV on the trainer till the world thaws out in March. But after heading out today, I might have to rethink my training methods.
In some way, I felt like I was cheating winter. Like, I was supposed to be inside moping and pouting and here I was riding past frozen creeks and horses with their wooly winter coats. It was very liberating. The temperature was in the 40s, which is unseasonably warm for this time of year, and had I been better dressed, I would have been very comfortable. Even more layers, and I could probably go another 10 or 15 degrees colder. I'm definitly going to have to try to do more of this.
I headed out the door today for my longest run since Lake Placid. I had an hour and a half planned and I was going to do it on the levee and singletrack that run alongside the river. It was a crystal clear sunny day despite the fact that the temperature was well below freezing. I was layered in my Patagonia capilene long underwear on top and bottom (so sexy), a pair of running tights, and my fabulous winter running jacket that was an early Christmas present from my parents. On top of all that I had on a fleecy headband, stripey gloves, and the ostrich socks that the Smacca chickie bought me oh so long ago.
Twenty minutes into my run my sports watch decided its tenure as my running partner was over and I was left with absolutely no clue as to how long I was out there.... which was oddly liberating. I decided to make it a 9-10-miler, which I knew would be longer than the planned hour and a half (especially with the run taking place on trails which slows me down quite a bit).
Trotting along on the levee I couldn't help but smile at how happy and lucky I was to be outside enjoying such a beautiful (if a bit chilly) December day. When I dropped onto the singletrack, I felt like I was in heaven. For as cold as it was, I had a lot of company out there in the form of mountain bikers all decked out in their warmest gear tearing up the trails. Everyone said hi and commented on the glorious weather. I think we were all feeling a little proud at our hard-core-ness for braving the elements (as my upper midwest readers laugh at the thought that temps in the teens are THAT cold!).
After 8 miles or so I had begun to get a bit delerious.... trail running does that to me for some reason, so I popped back up onto the levee and trotted back to the car in the waning late afternoon sunlight. My core was warm but my face was frozen.... it took a good couple minutes of sitting in the heated car to get to the point where I felt like I was respondent enough to drive home. I love winter running.
My legs feel way better than they normally do after an early season 10 miler.... trail running is easy on the legs and makes for faster recovery. Post-run I gobbled down an entire Chipotle chicken burrito in about 5 seconds and cleaned my apartment for several hours. Then I hopped on the trainer for an easy 45 minute spin to shake out the legs and now I'm drinking wine. And if that doesn't make for a damn good day, I don't know what does.
