Back to the Long Run

Finally managed to get out and do a long one. It's been three weeks since the Last Chance, my last long run. And maybe it wasn't the best idea, given how I feel at the moment, a few hours after completing it. But in the middle of it I felt awesome.

I toyed with the idea of doing a different route, but there's that washroom issue. I've done two half marathons this fall where it wasn't an issue, so I'll have to consider what I did that's different from my regular Sunday mornings.

Anyway, out and down to the river, across Prince's Island, and west. Great running until Crowchild, west of which the paths aren't cleared. Actually they're closed, and signs are posted saying to stay out, don't go, because there's ice, and avalanches, and coyotes, oh my!

I've never seen coyotes along there though I don't doubt they're around. It makes sense that they'd hang around a forest, but then I see them along the bluff in the open. Hmmm. And the avalanche danger is real, I suppose, but more likely it would be a landslide. They did considerable work shoring up the top of the cliff at one point where it's been collapsing.

The ice is real. It's not really bad yet, but will build all winter. There are natural springs in the cliff that run all the time. In the summer, water runs along the side of the path to a drain that carries it under the path toward the river. In the winter, the channel is full of snow, which gets wet, freezes and blocks the flow so water spreads instead across the path for several metres. If it was colder the ice would be wet and very slick. Today it was kind of slushy and a little sticky, though spots were more treacherous than others. But right now it was only that way for twenty metres or so. In a couple of months there might be wet ice for a hundred and fifty metres or more, and its tricky to navigate while hanging on to the adjacent fence.

The snow on the path slows me down, too. Often it's not that well packed and it slides out from underfoot. It's a great workout for the ankles, though. Much of it is mostly packed snow, which is a little more stable, and the whole mess stretches from Crowchild to Edworthy, at least three kilometres.

Across the bridge at Edworthy, a quick pitstop at the afore-mentioned washrooms, and it's all clear paved paths almost all the way home. I had tons of energy, and I opened up, keeping clost to five minutes per kilometre (12 kph) all the way to Prince's Island.

I started to lose some of it, at that point, and The Path Under The Stairs was a bit of a bear to climb. The run along the bluff was more partly packed snow, and the streets were icy for the last few blocks. Not the greatest finish.

And to top it off, friends called to meet for lunch just as I walked in the door, so I just showered and changed and was off. I feel the effects of skipping the post-run stretching at the moment.

Today's run:
Distance: 16.48 km. Time: 1:29:56. Average speed: 11.0 kph.
Rest distance: 973.8 m. Rest time: 9:00.
Total distance: 17.46 km. Total time: 1:38:56.

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Blue)

Weather: Cloudy and -2C for the duration. A little bit of a breeze, but nothing significant.