One reason I run

I went out for a run early on Monday morning.

I missed my long run on Sunday so I decided to get up early and fit in the 10 miles I wanted to do before work.  As seems to always be the case recently, it had snowed more than expected the night before and was still snowing lightly as I went out the door.  The main roads were plowed  but some of the side roads hadn't been touched.

It was slow going as my feet seemingly spent as much time slipping backwards as they did moving forward.  About 8 miles into the run I was on a back road and by this time the snow had stopped and the moon was visible, although it was only a sliver this time of month. Other than the moonlight and my headlamp, it was completely dark, I hadn't seen a street light in a couple of miles.

I came to a stretch of road that hadn't been touched by a plow and only had one set of tire tracks in it, which I was trying to run in.  There were a few trees but mostly it was an open field. Even though I was getting pretty cold and just wanted to finish the run, I stopped for what was probably just a minute or so, and took in the silence.

It was probably 5 in the morning at this point, fresh snow on the ground, a beautiful moon and complete silence.  How often does someone get to experience that?  I know I don't very often and it is usually when I'm out running that I experience these moments of silence which is typically followed by feelings of gratitude.

That's one reason I run.

Photo credit: Cricce

Fit Werx Gives Back

I've long been a fan of Fit Werx. I bought my first tri-bike from them in 2006 and they have been helpful with every aspect of cycling I've asked of them.  So, it was no surprise to see that they are giving back through their Fit Werx gives back program.

In short, Fitwerx is donating 3% of pre-tax sales towards a charity if you mention a registered charity prior to your purchase.  I've reistered Bretton Woods Adaptive with the Fit Werx effort so if you or anyone you know is making any bike related purchases I urge you to consider giving Fitwerx a call. It's a no lose situation - you'll get great service and great products by Fitwerx and contribute to a great charity at the same time.

New year's day run

I've written before that I really enjoy running on holidays.  I had a great run on both Thanksgiving and Christmas day this year and I was really looking forward to my New Year's Day run...kind of a way to shock the system to help give a different perspective on the upcoming new year.

With all the cold and snowy weather we have over the past few weeks, as new year's day approached I have kept close tabs to see what the weather might be that day.  It wasn't looking good leading up to the day and lived up to the forecast.

My training schedule had 1 hour 20 minutes slated for Sunday, but I decided to move it to New Year's Day since I wanted to do a run anyway.  I've clocked the distance from my house to the indoor pool in Downtown Dover which is about 4 miles.  I figured that going there and back would put me at about the time I wanted.

I waited until late morning in hopes of the temperature warming up as much as possible. That didn't happen.  Weather.com showed an air temp of 7 degrees and wind chill of -11 degrees.  Winds were showing 17 mph with gusts of 25 mph.  I started to re-think my plan.

As I looked at my cold weather running gear I thought I could put on enough layers to stay comfortable for a while.  My layers consisted of two running briefs, long sleeve pants with a wind layer, one long sleeve thermal base layer, a wind proof jacket, wind proof vest, balaklava, hat, running gloves and mittens. I thought about two pairs of socks but decided to go with one.

About 15 minutes into the run I look at my watch to see how my heart rate was doing and noticed the signal had gotten lost.  I pressed the button that is supposed to re-engage the monitor, and through some combination of a low battery and sub-zero temperatures the watch completely shut down.  Excellent....

The wind and the windswept snowy roads were as I expected. Running up hills was pretty much useless as each step forward seemed to put me no further ahead.  But I made it through and felt good that I finished.

As much of a struggle as it was, it was a good way to start the new year.

Thankfully I had my route planned