Friday, January 16, 2009

Cold Weather Running


If you are one of my cold-blooded, hardcore friends up North, please disregard this post as pansy-ass, unmerited boasting. Otherwise...read on. Yesterday I received an email from the safety department where I work, warning us of the possibility of temperatures between 0 and 5 degrees Friday morning, and advising us to stay indoors if possible. Ordinarily, I don't care much for cold weather. I prefer hot weather...the hotter the better. But when I get an email such as this...when I know that Tac, Trimama, TriguyJT, and many others have been dealing with this for weeks now...not to mention the "-28 degrees" Tac and Trimama have today...you can book it - I'm going outside. Running.

I sent an email and a text asking who was in with me...and I got one taker - Tim. But one was enough, and we met at the rec at 4:30 this morning, in 4 degrees and covered 4 miles at a 7:52 pace. I didn't wear my Garmin (and i haven't in quite a while), I just tried to keep up with Tim. I didn't realize we were running sub 8's until he informed me after 3 miles that we had "one mile left...a stretch of flat, a good downhill, and a slight uphill" and that we were going to break the 8 min pace. I reluctantly said, "Okay, I'll try" and dug down a little deeper. I did have to treat myself like Bob treated Joelle at one point...but easily enough we cruised back into the parking lot with a 7:52 pace.

That's probably a "running in low temps" PR for me, along with a 4 mile training run PR...I think. Good things happen when you don't conform to the norm.

Goodluck to Greyhound at the Houston Marathon and goodluck to Rosalind at the RNRAZ Marathon!!

6 comments:

Missy said...

I love cold weather running, got to go fast to stay warm, benefits!

Bethany said...

I agree with Missy, some of my faster mile(s) have been in the coldest temps...Not that they are really that fast or that many miles, but for me it was a PR! Way to go Lana!

Anonymous said...

I like running in the cold....but my 22 degrees this afternoon will make me look like a wimp!

Ron said...

Good run. I hate the cold too. I can't run fast with all those clothes on. I bundle up heavier than Santa.

kmholt7 said...

I like cool weather running. I'll admit I did skip Friday morning but it was part of a plan. :) I knew that it was going to be our coldest day from the 7 day forecast, so I ran 11 days straight so I wouldn't feel guilty about taking a day off!

Andrea said...

You rock! You are also a little crazy, but we all love you anyway! (LOL) By the way, I love your new hair color.