A Long, Snowy Slog

Joy here...On a beautiful snowy day as the white flakes flutter to the ground, you can sit inside by a roaring fire with a cup of hot chocolate between your palms as you look out the window to the winter wonderland of whiteness as far as they eye can see.  Or you can go for a drive, looking at the snow-laden branches reaching up towards the sky from the warmth of your heated seats.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Or you can do what I did.  You can put on a pair of running shoes, bundle yourself up, and go out and trudge through 10 to 15cms of the white stuff for an hour and a half!

You've seen the canal in summer...

Running in snow like this is kind of like running on sand.  However, it's not like wet, packed sand, nor is it like loose, grainy sand.  Rather, running in snow like today is like running on damp sand. It clumps on the bottoms of your shoes, and it makes running up inclines next to impossible, because it feels like you're just running on the spot.  But then add to that your wet, frozen eye lashes and the sound of squeaking like styrofoam rubbing together, and then you'll have a more clear picture of my run today.  Oh, yeah, and then add The Man and our 6'4 friend running ahead as well, leaving me to struggle behind them in the snow kicked up from their feet, and then you'll really get the full picture.

...now see it in winter!!!

I won't lie to you; it was a hard slog.  My legs were pretty heavy from my week's worth of working out, and the snow made it hard and tiring for the whole run.  I couldn't get my speed up, and I couldn't make my legs move any faster, but I could make sure that I just kept on going.  Today was supposed to be a 90 minute run, so I'd be damned if I'd stop before 90 minutes.  No I just focused on the sight of the branches laden with snow reaching into the greying sky and the beauty of the frozen canal, recently opened for skaters to enjoy.  I tried to appreciate the winter wonderland around me and ignore the fact that I could barely run through snow clumping on the tops and bottoms of my shoes.

Runnin' in a winter wonderland!

Basically, my new running scheme as I work towards my next goals of the 30km race at the end of March and the half marathon at the end of May looks something like this:
Sunday - long bike ride (inside, of course!)
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - 75 minute run with strides
Wednesday - easy bike ride (yep, still inside)
Thursday - 60 minutes of spinning in the morning, then 75 minute run with strides
Friday - easy bike ride or easy run
Saturday - long run.

My first long run of 2011 was last weekend, and funnily enough, I ran for a longer amount of time, but a shorter distance!  That snow really, really slowed me down.  The good thing about running in all that snow is that it's a lot more forgiving on the joints.  My knees didn't hurt at all...I guess all that white stuff absorbs the shock of every single footstep.

Brrrrrrr!

My run stats for today are:
Ran for a total of 1:30:00 for a distance of 13.44km with an average pace of 6:42min/km.

All in all, it was a pretty long slog in the snow.  But, hey, I live in Ottawa, this isn't my first long, snowy slog, and I know that it won't be my last!

Over and out,
Joy

Ottawa or Narnia?