White Out

I woke up once this morning and checked outside for snow - no beans. Woke up again about an hour later and there it was! Local weatherman have been licking their chops for something like this and the consensus is that Portland is in the midst of a weather DISASTER. I love it. **Arctic Blast** was the exact headlines. Our little meet-up quickly dissolved as it would have been tough to get everyone to drive on in from the hills. Luckily, I live close enough that I can run down to the main path.

Picture of the conditions upon waking:

I had an english muffin, coffee and a liter of water. I waited until about 11:30 and got really bundled up in several layers. My wardrobe today consisted of long REI "tights" - which really aren't tight at all. I missed the sizing on this and they are quite unattractive and baggy, but they do the trick. Smartwool hiking socks OVER the tights too. On top I had a base layer of short sleeve Patagonia t-shirt, another layer of a long sleeve drifit Nike top, topped off with my North Face jacket. Icing on the cake was my REI fleece cap. Below are some glamour shots taken while I was gearing up; as you can see I don't have much shame:

Yeah, I know....now, onto the run.

First three miles I was supposed to stay focused on keeping my HR under 170 bpm. At mile one I looked down to see I was in the high 170s so I slowed down a bit. I didn't feel like I was exerting that much, but I really didn't want to screw up my faster goals later on, so I brought it down a notch.

Mile 1 = 154 bpm (7:48 pace, but this is downhill)
Mile 2 = 166 bpm (8:43)
Mile 3 = 167 bpm (9:08)

The next four miles I had to keep a 7:55 pace, but didn't really come close:

Mile 4 = 8:06 (182 bpm)
Mile 5 = 8:02 (183 bpm)
Mile 6 = 8:10 (183 bpm)
Mile 7 = 8:10 (184 bpm)

I think my HR indicates that I was really busting ass. I attribute the slower pace to the snow and conditions. I think had it been clear and a little warmer I would have gone faster, but oh well.

My last three miles were back to a HR under 170. I just couldn't do it. I think my HR takes a while to slow down after being up high for so long. I settled into what honestly felt comfortable to me:

Mile 8 = 172 bpm (9:01)
Mile 9 = 177 bpm (8:49)
Mile 10 = 181 bpm (8:31)

I finished my 10 miles on the bridge, so I walked a little then ran the rest of the way home. The conditions were bad - I swear the snow was in my face the whole time, back and forth. The path was snowy and of course slippery. The temp is about 25* with a windchill 10* lower and the wind is 30 mph. I definitely could be worse, but this was the worst I've run in in a while. I really enjoyed the change of weather and love running in stuff like that. However, since I'm trying to train for specific times I am a little bummed that these other factors got in the way.

Not to be left out is the fact that I saw Santa Claus passing by on a train! He threw a candy cane directly at my head too. Santa, you're great and all but what makes you think that someone running in the snow wants to eat a candy cane? And do you realize how bad that would have hurt had it hit me at that velocity?

Another fun tidbit is that I had disgusting acidic stomach crap lurching up into my throat at the beginning of this run. Probably TMI, but gross. Reminder not to drink so much damn coffee right before a run.

After coming home I took a hot shower and am now totally zoned out. I'm enjoying the whole cozy winter thing but may need to take a nap. This was the longest and hardest run I've done in a while and I'm pooped.

Oh yeah - for the record the total pace for the run was 8:27.