Wednesday, January 7, 2015

It's Snow Wonder They Call Us Running Folk Crazy!!!!

It's often reported in the "popular press" that runners are a unique bunch,a strange breed or just plan bat shit off our trolleys crazy.......I'm not about to disspell those notions!!!!
I'd known for a few days tha there was a threat of snow on Tuesday,the bigger issue was when and how much?

I arrived at work by 6.15am w/out a snow flake in sight.....however by the time daylight arrived so to had the snow,now it was a matter of how long it'd fall and how much we'd get.
Working in the equivalant of a meat locker at this time of year{the loading dock then magically transforms into a giant brick oven in the summer}isn't ideal to begin w/ but this is the price I pay for not paying more attention in high school way back when,but hey it worked for Sly in the first "Rocky" movie so.........

Up up and away by 3.20pm,I'd worn my base layer under my work clothes to keep warm and also brought my outer layer and running shoes w/ me in case access to Geasey Field was doable on the way home.......hardly a surprize nobody ws on the track when I arrived at  just b4 3.50pm.
The whole of the track and infield was covered by a blanket of snow which was still falling but I was here now......fortune favours the brave or so we're told but we're also told in the Queen and David Bowie classic "insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking" I'm mad by definition of being a runner to begin w/ so laughing in the face of insanity comes naturally I guess!!!!

Thankfully the drainage ditch around the track allowed me to workout where the edge of the track was,I drew a line in the snow w/ the heal of my runing shoe to mark a start/finish line,since the plan was 8x800m repeat I only needed to worry about my 400m splits.
Clearly my racing flats would be useless in the snow so I opted for my regular running shoes,hey Sketchers if you're looking for a new advertising campaign forget about Meb winning the Boston Marathon in a pair of Sketchers how about yours truly doing his track repeats in the snow in a pair????

Mile warm up taken care of it was 4pm,the sooner I begun the sooner I'd be done which w/ the whole daylight/dropping temps issue at hand the better.

#1 800m
1.19-1.26=2.45.1
It was evident time wasn't the issue here,just getting the suckers done was my #1 priority.

#2 800m
1.25-1.29=2.54.4
A far cry from the sub 1.20s I was running two weeks ago......then again I wasn't trudging through snow to do them so cut me a brake!!!!

#3 800m
1.24-1.28=2.52.2
I realize 8x800s are hard work to begin w/ but doing them in the snow in sub zero temps just added to the matter.....

By the time I clocked a 1.26 for the opening 400m of #4 I realized it was almost counter productive,why go "through the motions" of a second 400m for the sake of doing so when I could probably get more "bang for my buck" w/ 400s......so I opted to finish up the session w/ 400s.
As a rule I don't switch repeats in mid session but these were extenuating circumstances you'd have to admit!!!!

My 10x400m went:
1.26.8
1.23.8
1.22.0
1.23.2
1.23.1
1.23.8
1.25.1
1.24.5
1.25.3
1.19.9

Leave it to yours truly to finish the session was a fast final repeat what can I say snow or no snow I want to go out on a high!
By 5pm the sun had set and for the first time in the session I could feel just how cold it was,my mile cool down couldn't end soon enough for me and while the prospect of doing a "Snow Angel" on the track at the finishline was tempting I opted against it......there was still a Subway and Trolley ride home b4 a hot shower and a steaming mug of Apple Cider......
Glass half full his was one for the ages {Snow Age???} glass half empty I have set the bar rather high for the remainder of the Winter......but I'll concern myself w/ that one day and one workout at a time!!!!

2 comments:

William said...

tru suffering

kevin f forde said...

It's been said one must suffer for ones art!!!