I had to make sure to get my run in before the snow started today. Rather than relax in the afternoon, I grabbed lunch at work and headed to the nearby Ironton Rail Trail. The plan was to run one loop around there and add a little distance to get to 6 miles.
Today was right up there with the worst days of winter thus far. It has been cold many days, but few days have had the wind quite like today. If I had to guess, I'd say it was about 15 MPH. I dressed in the usual gear and was even a little chilly with the fleece vest on.
This is a great route to run. It is an old rail trail around neighborhoods and they have a lot of cool markers that are reminders of its railroad past. There are a few parks next to it and also some nature trails. It is a nice setting. Plus, it isn't your standard flat rail trail. It has elevation change and it is a loop, rather than an out and back.
I haven't run on this trail in quite some time. I think perhaps the last time was an awful day just like this last year, right before a snowstorm too. In fact, during that run, it was snowing a bit. I also ran with the BCR last winter when it was ice covered. It is a place I should get to more often in the summer.
The run started off with a nice downhill. It was also with the wind at my back, so it felt great. That wouldn't last. Before long, I had turned the corner and had a headwind in my face. The first mile was an 8:36. That's a little faster than I usually start off at.
I cruised along. I didn't feel as though I was running hard early on, but I may have been pushing it just a bit more against the wind. It was a lonely day out there. I saw 3 or 4 people walking dogs, but that was it. There were no other runners or cyclists. One guy that I passed later on was walking by himself.
The frustrating thing about this run is it seemed like the wind was never at my back. I knew it would be at its worst as I ran along the river. I was correct, although it actually didn't get much worse. It sucked the whole time.
After the first mile, every other mile was well under 8 minutes. My breathing did labor a little, but that was more due to the wind. I clicked off some nice miles and enjoyed myself as much as I could.
Most of the run was flat, so I felt pretty good. I knew I'd have a challenging uphill after Saylor Park. In that final 1.5 miles, I pushed a bit. I ran 6:54 and 6:47 for the final 2 miles. That was fun. On the uphill, there was a cop car driving on the trail. That was kind of weird, but I remember seeing them do that before.
When I got to the top of the hill, I didn't want to go downhill and back up again, so I ran on the sidewalk through a neighborhood. That was a nice flat out and back. I was at about 5.9 miles when I got back to the parking lot, so I flew downhill to finish up. It was a productive end to a solid run.
I got snowshoes for Christmas. They are made more for walking, so I bought a more running specific kind. Those haven't come yet, so I used the walking ones tonight. I went out when we had about 2 inches and I started to run in them.
I thought this would be quite hard and take some getting used to. It was a good workout, but actually easier than I suspected. I guess it would be harder if I wasn't as fit as I am or if I didn't start running slow.
The plan was just a short mile or two run in the dark in the schoolyard next to my house. That has a little elevation change too, for some added fun. I put the snowshoes on and walked briefly before trying to run.
Running wasn't too difficult. I cruised around behind the school at a comfortable pace. It might get harder when the snow gets deeper. I guess I'll find out soon.
After a half mile, I looked at my watch and my pace was slightly under 11 minutes. Obviously slower than my running pace, but not too bad for my first time out and without much effort. Add in that these snowshoes weren't made for running either.
As I closed in on three quarters of a mile, I decided to see what it was like to actually run hard in these things. I pushed the pace and it wasn't long before I encountered a problem. I realized that my straps weren't tight. I sort of suspected this when I put them on in the dark. I'm not quite sure how to really secure them. I'll look more closely during the daytime.
My foot fell out of the shoes and I had to readjust them. That worked for awhile, but I kept sliding out of the straps, even when I ran slower. I figured I would simply run until a mile was complete and then call it quits for the evening. It was only a short test run anyway.
For some reason a car pulled into the parking lot and was driving around the school. I'm not sure why. It wasn't a cop car. Maybe they were wondering what the heck I was doing. I had slipped out of my snowshoes around this time and I didn't stop my watch when putting them back on. Therefore, I'm not sure what my actual pace was and how much time I lost doing this.
I did enjoy the run and can't wait to run in snowshoes again. I'm going to try again tomorrow in fact. Hopefully I can go 2 or 3 miles and try somewhere different, like maybe Jacobsburg. That could be fun. I can't wait until my Dion Snowshoes arrive and I can test out the difference. I'm likely going to sign up for the PA State Snowshoe Championships next month and apparently it is quite easy to qualify for the National Championship from there.
Tomorrow will probably only be a snowshoe run. I'm not sure about Saturday. That was supposed to be a 50k, but I doubt I'll run that and I may not even drop down to a shorter race there. I guess I'll decide sometime tomorrow after the snow stops.
6 miles - 44:47 (7:28 pace)
Snowshoe Run 1 mile - 11:42 (11:42 pace)
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