All Downhill From Here

This weekend I’m busier than a one-armed paper hanger, but I’ll stick up this little report of my two runs this week before I have to head off for the Okotoks XC later today.

Tuesday it was -22C/-8F on my thermometer, but I needed a run of some sort, so I layered up and went around my 8-minute block 3 times. My cold-weather gear isn’t quite as current or as expensive as Mark’s, but it did the trick for 24 minutes.

I vaselined the skin around my eyes and didn’t wear a face mask. I had something to cover my mouth and nose for the first couple of minutes, but didn’t need it after that – needed the oxygen more. There was a wind, but in the shelter of my block I didn’t need much protection, and the small loops kept my body parts rotating away from long-term exposure.

Yeah, yeah, don’t tell me about treadmills, either. I like them about as much as Mark does (not) and my cut-off is about -25C ish. Thankfully, it doesn’t get that cold for long in Calgary, (3 hours south of Edmonton). Plus? We have the Olympic Oval in which to run if I get desperate and have to head indoors.

Thursday evening it was much warmer out, at only -5C/23F, and some of the hard-packed snow turned to mashed potatoes. At least the hard ice hadn’t melted, which was good, because partially melted ice can be slicker n’ snot. There was a Chinook wind from the west, but it seemed balmy-warm after Tuesday’s run.

All you runners out there who get to run on dry ground? Treasure your traction, eh.

I ran for almost 40 minutes and stuck in my 3-minute hill for good measure. Funny, last winter that was a 2-minute hill, but lately it’s been taking more like 2:45… Need to do something about that.

Time to get packed up for today’s snowy XC. While you’re waiting for my report, here’s how pretty it looked last year.