It’s just week three of training for the New Jersey Marathon and I’m already over it. As much as I actually enjoy the cold and winter, I’ve had enough. Subzero temperatures with heavy winds, snowstorm after snowstorm, freezing rain, ice. I’ve run through it all. In fact, I can’t remember the last run that didn’t feature one of these. I refuse to let the weather win, but it’s been tough to get myself out there and none of these runs are enjoyable.
Like weeks one and two, week three was completely jumbled around from what was originally scheduled. We got a pretty big snowstorm on Tuesday that dumped a foot of snow on us. Knowing that a lot of people around here don’t shovel the sidewalks in front of their houses, I wanted to try to knock my mid-week long run out before the storm hit. I moved it from Thursday up to Tuesday, but I didn’t beat the storm. I ended up running nine miles during the storm. The next two days, a six-miler and a seven-miler, were extra difficult because of all the snow on the ground. I had to resort to doing laps up and down a side street near my house.
Friday I took off from work to snowboarding with Krissie of PhillyNerdGirl fame. We hit up Blue Mountain in the Poconos for a full day of awesome riding. Unfortunately, snowboarding does not make for a smart activity on your only day off between two stints of running six days straight. My legs (and the rest of me) were exhausted afterwards!
After getting my face blasted with a bunch of lasers on Saturday morning, I decided to knock out Sunday’s thirteen-mile long run. We were supposed to get another inch of snow, but the temperature was all the way into the upper 20s for the first time in a while so I knew I needed to take advantage of that. Again, I didn’t beat the snow though. I ended up running during the snow again. But this time, the ground conditions were literally the worst I’ve ever run on. Each step was a surprise!
Everything was covered in an inch of snow so I couldn’t tell what was underneath. I didn’t know if there was going to be ice, slush, or salted ground. Even from one step to the next, I couldn’t assume anything. Most steps were slippery as hell and I never had much traction or confidence that I wasn’t going to fall. On top of all that, my legs were utterly exhausted from snowboarding the day before and six straight days of running before that. By the end, I really couldn’t believe I powered through all thirteen miles AND didn’t fall. I had a few slips that almost took me down, but I managed to keep my feet under me.
When all was said and done, I knocked out all of my runs and racked up 45 miles so I can’t complain too much, but I had to skip all of my speed work because of the lack of traction.
This week is supposed to be cold as hell again so it seems the snow and ice will be sticking around on the ground for a while still. Ugh.