Snowy Progression

Snow isn't exactly what you want to see when preparing for a progression run (where you need to speed up). We only had an inch or two thankfully. Because it fell overnight, I figured the paths wouldn't be clear. I was wrong. The Fairmount Park folks do an excellent job of clearing snow.

I wore my trail shoes out for this run because I figured there would be snow. They are so cumbersome. Early on, I was wondering if I'd be able to even finish in such heavy and uncomfortable shoes. Luckily, I adapted to them and had no soreness.

I ran a nice solid pace on the way out. It wasn't the worst wind we've had, but as usual it was windy on the way out. An attractive woman ran by as I was stretching. She probably got close to a quarter mile ahead of me. She wasn't very fast though, so I caught her before the Columbia Bridge (mile 1.5). After the bridge, the wind changes directions and get kind of hot.

I turned around just past the Strawberry Mansion Bridge. I then hit some wind, which I knew would be tough as I started to speed up. My run called for 5 miles total with the final 15 minutes moderate. I figured that would be around 2.1 miles left in the run. I picked up the tempo there and it was still windy.

Even with less than stellar conditions and the heavy shoes, I was very impressed with my final two miles. I ran both under 7 minute pace, including the final mile at a blistering 6:31. I didn't feel that strong either. I just really pushed myself. I still have to get used to these progression runs.

Not only were the shoes uncomfortable, but the tongue on my one shoe rubbed up against my foot. I went with short socks, so I had no protection there. I went with the shorter socks because my feet were too wet in those trail shoes with thicker socks. It's a tough trade off I guess. Next time, I'll go back to thicker socks.

I was pleased with the rest of my attire. The only clean shirt I really had was the compression fit one. I figured it would look really goofy with my compression tights. I would've been blue man. I threw my lightweight, cheap jacket on. That wasn't great, but it broke up the wind some and I didn't sweat as much as I usually do in the other jacket. Next year, I'll have to buy a lighter jacket like that for winter running. I just want a slightly better quality one.

5 miles - 35:36 (7:07 pace)