Running Update

I've never been a big fan of winter running, but if you just get out and do it, it's not that bad. This has been my best running winter so far. The snow arrived fairly early (November), and it took me a month or so to get used to running on it. But since then, my pace has been much the same as it was in the fall, which I find surprising since winter running is generally slower.

Amazingly, December was my highest mileage month (215 km). I haven't gone over 20 km on my weekly long runs, but I'm still managing to average over 50 km per week. My main runs are 10, 10, and 20 km, plus I'll add in a couple more short 5 km runs. Covid has helped - since I'm home all the time, it's easy to get in some extra short runs. In the past, this amount of running would have been hard on me, and I would have needed occasional recovery weeks. But it hasn't seemed bad at all. Nothing hurts (touch wood) and I don't feel tired out. My legs were a little sore when the snow first arrived, but that has passed. 

It's interesting looking back at my runs. Up till September I was sticking faithfully to my three runs a week. But since October I've gone to 4 or 5 runs a week without any problems. By the end of the summer I'd phased out my remaining run-walk I'd been using for the longer runs. All in all, it seems like things are going really well.

The weather has actually been pretty nice for Saskatchewan. We've had a few weeks around -20c, but mostly it's been -10c or warmer, which is great. The warmer weather has meant some icier conditions from freezing rain and melt-freeze. I bought some spiked shoes in the fall and although I don't find them as comfortable as my various Altras, they work great in slippery conditions.

It always takes a while when the seasons change to get your clothing systems figured out. Winter is tough to dress for. No matter what, some parts of you are going to be too cold at some point (with me, that's usually my hands), and other parts will be too hot. When it gets cold enough to need some serious layers, it's impossible for them to breath well enough and you get wet from sweating. Luckily, running works my feet enough that I don't have any problems with them getting cold.

Most years I taper off in the winter, and then it takes a while to get back into it in the spring. I'm hoping if I can keep it up for the whole winter that I'll be ready to go in the spring.