Sunday, January 27, 2008

Beating the Blizzard

I thought about getting out yesterday, since it was so warm out. Really a gorgeous day. But I'm trying to get back into the Sunday morning runs, and I was determined to do a distance run this morning.

So what's a little blowing snow and dangerous windchills? Actually, it wasn't all that bad. Running heats you up enough that even with the wind, you can stay pretty warm. I just wore my usual winter running clothes, and added the scratchiest scarf I could find, the kind where the loose nylon fibres stick to your lip balm. Bleah.

I got back into the run-walk rhythm, and headed toward Edworthy. The wind wasn't too bad until I got to 37th Street. From there the path turns a little northward, and the condos back away from it, so it's pretty open. Only the occasional naked cottonwood breaks the openness.

At the Edworthy bridge, I thought about crossing and running the south side, but instead I just trotted around Angel's snack bar and headed back toward downtown. By that time, the wind had swung more northward, and had strengthened, too. Mostly I was good, but that side of my nose was uncomfortably cold.

Back at Crowchild, I crossed to the south, just to say I did. Not much cover over there, either, and the wind was biting. I ran the promenade, crossed at Prince's Island, and up The Path Under The Stairs.

It was pretty uneventful, really. The biggest thing was that my knees were perfect. Even after all that, everything felt great.

Today's run:
Distance: 16.02 km. Time: 1:33:03. Average speed: 10.3 kph. (5:50 min/km)
Rest distance: 1.01 km. Rest time: 10:00.
Total distance: 17.03 km. Total time: 1:43:03.

Shoes: New Balance 1061.

Weather: Light snow, winds north at 40 kph gusting to 60 kph and -15C at the start; winds north at 50 kph and -18C at the end.

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