Sunday, February 10, 2008

Crazy Weather

Still struggling with motivation, but I'm getting out there. I wasn't going to go, cuz it seemed so cold, but I managed to convince myself that it was going to warm up and be lovely out.

Of course, once I got out and moving I was fine. It never did reach the high promised by the forecast, but it was nice enough, cuz we didn't get the wind that was promised either.

I was off and down The Path just before lunch time. It was cold enough that I questioned the wisdom of not wearing a scarf, but after fifteen minutes or so, I was warm enough that my face wasn't freezing. It was quite comfortable, actually.

I did the full long distance loop today, going all the way to the Edworthy foot bridge and crossing over to return by the path below Spruce Cliff and Wildwood. Of course the gate is closed, and the warning signs are up, but the path around it is well used.

The biggest issue is that the natural springs that constantly run on that side have deposited huge mounds of ice on the path. One is so big that the six foot chain link fence that separates the path from the railroad tracks actually only came up to my knee. It was also still being built up by the flowing water, so there were stretches of wet ice, where I held onto the fence for balance, and of course on this one, I had to bend down to reach it. Freaky.

Between that and the unplowed paths through Lawrey Gardens, it was slow going through there. Not too many other people; in fact I only met two.

I also caught the tail end of the Hypothermic Half marathon. Pylons marking the trail at intersections, and kilometre markers. It was about 12:30 when I got back to the 14th Street bridge, passing an abandoned water station. Decent day for running, but I bet it was cold for the volunteers at the water stations and along the path.

After that, it was straight on to the top of the bluff, and along the top. I've been running to 4th Street lately, just to take in the view for awhile before heading north toward home. No sign of the mountains this morning, but it was becoming a lovely day.

Today's run:
Distance: 16.49 km. Time: 1:34:48. Average speed: 10.4 kph. (5:45 min/km)
Rest distance: 1.01 km. Rest time: 10:00.
Total distance: 17.50 km. Total time: 1:44:48.

Shoes: New Balance 1061.

Weather: Cloudy and -20 at the start, warming up to -17 by the end.

1 comment:

Revrunner said...

I remember running in a cemetery in Pennsylvania once in that kind of weather. There ground was covered with several inches of ice from earlier storms and it wasn't as much a run as a long slide. :-)