The Coldest Run

What do you get when you mix 20 degree temperatures with 25 mile per hour winds and a hundred crazy runners? Some really frozen, foul-mouthed runners.

Yesterday we had the coldest run of the season. After being spoilt  every Saturday with unseasonably warm weather - and one almost simulating the 70 degrees we expect in Miami - Mother Nature probably thought it wisest to teach us a lesson. All talks of global warming disappeared like the melting glaciers of Greenland. Instead, all one could talk was the snow storm in Colorado, the fall in Malibu (for heaven's sake!) and how great it would be to be in Miami next weekend.

Yesterday's run was a short, 8-mile recovery run. Recovering from the previous 23 mile run of a couple of weekends ago. As runs go, this was about as routine as all the others. Except for the cold bit. The winds swept mightily, causing fierce amounts of cussing on part of the runners. On such a cold day, one is advised to protect the extremities and reduce the chances of losing heat by wearing gloves, a protection for the head, ears and neck. I only had a pair of gloves and a headband / ear cover, and made a makeshift neck warmer using a spare headband.

In such a cold weather, it's important to warm up properly or else muscles stiffen up. Having barely stretched properly, it was hard to listen to the morning prep talk when the winds picked up speed. All one could think of was to get on with the run, get warm and go home. And as it happened, it snowed during run!  Light snow flakes, but snow none the less. It looked pretty for a while, but the snow melted quickly. At the four-mile turn around point near the Potomac after crossing the Pegasus bridge, the strong winds almost swept us away from the course. The choppy green waters of the  dirty Potomac looked quite menacing, and for once, I was in a hurry to run faster and get it over with quickly. As it happened, my right leg had different plans.

The muscles of my right leg stiffened up and ached. I ran slower, stretched a bit and came back to the home base slower than expected. It's not aching badly, just a little. My right IT band isn't exactly happy right now. I'm doing some suggested stretching and strengthening exercises, both for the leg and for the back. I hope these exercises will help do their bit.

As I write this in the local Panera Bread sipping hot chai, it is snowing outside. The first big snow of the season in DC. Reminds me of my days in Boston, where this would have been regular occurrence, and weeks ago in the season.

Next up - strategy for conserving energy and running the marathon on the D-day...