Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Running in a Winter Wonderland

You know, if I liked to be cold and enjoyed winter sports this winter would be awesome. But to a runner....THIS. WINTER. SUCKS.

I still cannot believe it's only January. We've had what seems like a ton of snow and it's been unbelievably cold for the majority of the month. And it's not over yet. Over the next 24 hours we are expected another 8-12 inches of snow. Did you read that? A foot of snow!

I work 18 miles from home. This morning it took me 55 minutes to get to work at 9:00am. This afternoon it took me 2 hours 15 minutes to get h0me starting at 5:15pm. I'm really hoping for a snow day tomoroow.

The thing that bothers me is that this weather is wreaking havoc on my training. Generally I enjoy running in the snow. I love knowing that I am a hard-core runner. That I'm the only one out there training while others are getting chubbing inside. But this year it hasn't just been the snow. The temperatures are just too cold for me.

Again this week I moved my long run inside as the temperature was below 20 degrees on both Sunday and Monday. The first half of my run was 90 minutes (10 miles) of rolling hills on the treadmill. After 10 minutes warming up and 5 minutes building into zone 2, I had to hold my heart rate in zone 2 and go through this routine 3 times:

1 minute @ 0.5%
1 minute @ 1%
1 minute @ 0.5%
1 minute @ 1.5%
1 minute @ 0.5%
1 minute @ 2%
1 minute @ 0.5%
1 minute @ 2.5%
1 minute @ 0.5%
1 minute @ 3%
5 minutes easy running

After doing that mess for three repetitions I had to do 3 X 1 minute at 3% followed by 1 minute easy. The rest of the workout was to be a cool-down.

Then 6 hours later I had to do another 40 minutes (4 miles) in zones 1 and 2.

My back is killing me from running on the treadmill.

I. AM. READY. FOR. SPRING.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

you work 18 miles from home? i thought you were self employed.

Meredith said...

I teach gymnastics part-time.

Michelle said...

I'm not trying to train for anything, and I agree: I AM READY FOR SPRING, too!

Meredith said...

Heck of a winter storm we're getting right now. I'm wondering if there will be two days without school this week.

Lindsay said...

i am so ready for spring/summer/warmer weather! it has definitely been hard to get out in the cold, cold temps but i keep managing to find ways around that for the most part. glad you are still able to do yours too! 10 miles on the treadmill... kinda yuck! way to hang in there.