Snowy Run

What a beautiful morning, although I'm sure anyone who had to drive was thinking otherwise. It's the kind of wet snow, falling at a temperature that freezes it at intersections where it's packed down and polished.

I dressed in running tights and a long sleeve tee under my windbreaker. Temperature-wise, it's perfect weather for running, and no wind either. I was out a little early, so a lot of the paths hadn't been cleared right when I started out. I had to adopt a kind of high kicking stride at times, to keep the slush from splashing into each shoe.

I met one of those rotating brush things near the helicopter pad by the promenade, and from there, it was slush free running for awhile. It was a little quiet until I got past 14th Street, and then I began to pass several walking groups.

The cleared path ended at Crowchild, and the trail was covered with a thick layer of new snow, wet and sticky. Even as fresh as it was, there had been a lot of traffic. The slushy parts were scarce.

This kind of snow automatically makes for an uneven surface to run on. Even so, I made great time. I crossed over the river at Edworthy, and got on the plowed path. There were still a few groups out, more than I expected.

I still do the run/walk thing on the long runs and it seems to work - run nine minutes, walk one minute. For a couple of these intervals, I tried a variation that I had been doing back in the spring, a kind of fartlek training. I would run normal for four minutes, run hard for one minute, run normal again for another four minutes, and then walk for one minute. I think fartleks are a little more variable.

I got to the stairs again and tried to run them. More like shuffled up, with a little more bounce than a normal walking climb. I still need about fifty metres of walking at the top to get my breathing back, but it has been making a difference.

After that, it was a short trot through the slush and I was doing my post-run stretches on my front step.

Distance: 16.01 Time: 1:30:00
Average speed: 5:37 min/km. (10.67 kph)
Rest distance: 916.6 m. Rest time: 9:37.
Total distance: 16.93 km. Total time: 1:39:37.

Shoes: Asics GT-2130.

Weather: Light snow and -1C all the way.