A Snowy Run Through the Hinckley Reservation

Saturday morning I decided to head out for a few miles in Hinckley. Weather forecast was low 20's and snow, and that's just what I had. There weren't too many people out, keeping things nice and quiet. Just the crows making noise from up in the trees. I ended up running three loops around the lake for just over nine miles. But in those three loops I managed to capture the essence of the morning. Enjoy:

Boston Training: Hill Work Session #1

I began my Boston Marathon training a little later than I would have liked, but better late than never. Right? The nagging aches and pains, which are slowly getting better, kept me from really getting into full-on training mode. But after printing out Hal Higdon's Boston Bound Training Plan, I feel much better. One major thing, it's a 12 week program instead of the usual 18, so I have only missed the first two weeks. Switching around Monday and Tuesday to deal with the snow (which we are now getting) had me running hills last night.

I arrived in Hinckley just as it was getting dark. I planned to run one loop around the lake. There are plenty of hills to choose from there, both uphill and down. If the trail wasn't runnable, I would run on the road. I ended up doing a little of both by the time I finished. I didn't count on it being so cold though, and I was glad to be doing only one loop.

Four hill repeats were on tap with one being downhill. I ran counter-clockwise from the Spillway, using the first uphill as a warm-up. The trail was plowed but mostly packed to loosely packed snow with icy spots. My first hill was the one at the Boathouse. I ran down on the roadway to check the footing, reached the bottom, turned around, and sprinted right back up. Good one! Running back down I thought about sprinting it again but decided to save it for the next one which is a little longer.

Hill number two was the one that runs alongside the long road that dips down to the bridle trail access area. I ran in the road again here as there were no cars around and more bare pavement. This one really tired me out but it felt good. I was able to get a little rest before hitting the big dip along State Road.

Hill number three was the uphill along State Road going north. Here, the trail was dry pavement and I pushed hard. I was gasping for breath by the time I crested the top. I'm sure the low 20 degree temperature didn't help any. But I didn't have much time to recover as I still needed a downhill repeat.

So I turned around and flew downhill as carefully as I could for hill number 4. A great finish to my hill work! All I had to do was run back UP the hill I just came down, then make my way back to the car which was still nearly a mile away. But that was OK. I needed a cool down.

Superbowl Weekend 2010

I remember going for a group run this time last year. There was snow on the ground and we had to run in the street. Well, we were simply dumped on Friday into Saturday this year and there was no running going on for me. 8 to 10 inches by my estimate, lots of blowing and drifting, few people shovelling their sidewalks, and the roads not being cleared very well, and very cold morning temperatures kept me inside. A packed Rec Center kept me from running period.

Indoor cycling was on tap for the weekend. 20 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. I completed the distance in close to 1:30 each day. Sunday I followed the ride with 40 minutes of strength training to help burn calories before the Superbowl viewing party. It's kind of scary, I'm getting used to riding in the basement!

Good news! I have a plan! A training plan, that is. For Boston! I'm staying with Mr. Higdon and using his Boston Bound Training Program. It has runs scheduled for every day except for Fridays and should allow for some repositioning due to inclement weather this time of year. The new item is scheduled hill training. I will be alternating Tuesdays running repeats on the track and hill repeats. Today I'm supposed to do 4 easy miles with 4 X hills tomorrow. Due to more snow coming in tomorrow, I think I'm going to switch them around, doing my hills tonight in Hinckley, leaving me open to run indoors tomorrow if the weather is bad enough.

A Little on the Hinckley Trails

And by a "little", I do mean LITTLE. Like four miles little! You see, for the second time now I've arrived 5 minutes before 6:00 for the Thursday 6:00 trail run, and the group has already left. Since I didn't think they could have left too much before my arrival, I hauled ass over the snow covered bridle trail, following what I thought were the footprints of at least five people. I ran that first mile of trail... uphill... in the snow... in 8:37! Did I mention it was getting dark? Oh yeah, that too. Needless to say, I didn't catch them, nor even find them. They might have taken a singletrack side trail, but I doubted that due to it getting dark. I didn't hear a peep either. Oh well.

I managed to get across that first water crossing dry, using the ice and stones, and ran until I hit two miles out. By that time it was dark, my lamp was on, and I had to make a decision whether to continue or turn back. Since I really didn't want to be running solo in the snow in the dark, I decided to turn around and cut the run short. Only 4 miles in 39:49 at an average pace of 9:48/miles.

Good news/bad news. Good news: No discomfort or pain at all in the four miles, some of which was hard running. Bad news: I don't think I'm going to try to meet with that group any more. It's just too hectic for me to get there by the determined time, only to find they've left early.

The Track? The Track!

THE TRACK! I've forgotten all about the track. It's been so long since I've been there! But I was there last night and it was nice to be back.

I didn't expect to see anyone else up there so I wasn't disappointed when no one was there. With temperatures hovering right about 33 degrees or so, I wanted to get out for a few miles in the relatively "nice" weather. Speedwork is something I stopped doing as 24 hour training began ramping up last fall, and it's been calling my name for a while.

There were snowy spots, clear spots, and clear "wet" spots that began freezing once the sun went down. I wanted to get 5 miles total in with warm-up and cool-down. 800s were on tap. Five of them with 400 meter recovery. My times weren't great, but decent enough: 3:25 / 3:25 / 3:16 / 3:14 / and 3:18. With all things considered: my leave-of-absence from speedwork, the snow on the track, the cold temperature, and my persistent pain, I'm happy with the times. If anything, they will become a baseline for the rest of the year. Something to shoot for.

Only my left foot really bothered me. I needed to stop and loosen the laces on that shoe a couple times due to a pressure spot. I also wore an older set of shoes, the Scarlet and Gray Asics Gel Stratus Gen 1's, with approaching 400 miles on them. They felt light and fast, not at all like the Nimbus the other day.

I'm feeling a little under the weather today with a slight sore throat and a mild fever so I don't know if I'll do anything tonight or just take a rest day.

Round and Around Buckeye Woods

You would think that with a 100% cloud free sky and maximum sunshine, it would have been a little warmer Sunday. But you would have been wrong, as was I! Good thing I packed some "emergency" layers, just in case.

As it was only in the low to mid 20's around noon, it was still a little on the cold side, but much warmer than the single digits we had earlier in the morning. But given the abundant sunshine, it should have been warmer. You see, what I didn't count on was all the wind that particular area gets due to all the farm fields. There isn't much in the way of wind barriers in rural Medina County. So, that, combined with my recent running pains, is why I ran with no time goal, no mileage goal, and no route in mind.

I parked at Buckeye Woods, planning on returning to the car whenever I needed a drink or bite to eat. I just didn't feel like carrying a lot with me, including my camera, which left me with no choice but to use the camera phone, resulting in some low quality images.

The nice thing about this park is that the trail loops around. It's kind of like running in Hinckley but without the hills! I started out with a loop around the big field/pond area. Lots of wind there! Running through the treed sections on my way to and from the field provided the most protection from the wind, and I wished I could have just stayed under their cover. Too bad there wasn't a forested loop.

After a brief stop at the car, I decided to make my way south on the Chippewa Inlet Trail. Better get it out of the way early while I wasn't a total freezing mess in the wind. And there was wind. LOTS of wind! As you can see in the photo below, the trail is completely exposed with nothing to block the wind at all.



Also missing along the trail: me restarting my Garmin after crossing Rt. 162! I went for at least a mile before catching the mistake.

After returning from the canal side spur, which turned out to have a headwind both going AND coming back, I logged the remainder of my miles within Buckeye Woods just running loops. The trail was mostly snow covered, but not icy, and the footing wasn't bad at all.

The Asics Gel Nimbus was my shoe of choice for the day. I haven't put many miles on them and I wanted to see how they felt after a week of rest. Which leads me to some good news and some bad news. The good news: My ankles didn't bother me at all! I tried to keep my feet relaxed without tensing up at the ankle. The tongue design of the Nimbus may have helped too. The bad news: The balls of my feet began bothering me after about 8 miles or so. The left foot more so than the right. I ended up icing the left foot that night. The ball area just behind the second and third toes was very swollen. The unexpected bad news: My right knee gave out on me as I was finishing the run. I had about a quarter mile to go and I nearly fell down from it not bearing my weight. I don't know what that was about. That knee has never given me any problems before.



I'm hoping that my aches and pains are temporary, but I'm not ruling out a visit to Dr. Joe if I don't have any success working past things on my own. I have too many long runs scheduled for this year to not be able to run 15 miles without collapsing.

January Re-Cap

Since I'm encountering Technical Difficulties trying to make a post about my run yesterday, I think I will go ahead and re-cap January's numbers. Let's get right to them:

Swim: 1.25 miles
Bike: 181.37 miles
Run: 57.43 miles

As I'm having problems with the run right now, I really made an effort to get on the bike trainer and log miles in January. I had no official goal distance, but the 200 mile mark crossed my mind a couple times, and I could have hit it had I been a little bit more motivated. But still, 181 is the most trainer miles I've ever logged in one month, and quite possibly could be the most cycling miles period!

My swimming distance was from one visit to the pool. Totally mental. I just have had no desire to go up to the Rec. and get in the water with it being as cold as it has been here. I get shivers just thinking about it! I'm going to have to make more of an effort to swim in February.

Running? What can I say. It hurts right now and is not fun. Although my ankles didn't bother me on yesterday's run, my feet and my right knee did. I'm hoping it's just bugs getting worked out of the system. I'm systematically working through different shoes in the hopes of finding something that feels better. IF the shoes are the problem! I'm not all that convinced that's the case. Time will tell!