Cold and Snowy Long Run

I woke up at about 5AM this morning to get ready for my long run planned with Mike. After some quick oatmeal, I was on the road to pick up Mike. We were planning on going to the White River Trail that we have never ran on before about 10 miles from Mike's home. We arrived as it was starting to get light out.

It was cold, Mike was in some running tights but I opted to stay in shorts which at first I didn't know if it was wise or not. I think it was 22F out and it was lightly snowing with huge snowflakes. It was serene running through the large flakes falling as we headed out.

The trail is a former rail bed so it it pretty flat but i really didn't want to run fast so I kept it easy and Mike actually stayed with me for most of the time. Guess he wanted to go really slow (for his usual pace).

The decision on wearing shorts ended up being a good idea. I am sure the tights would have been OK, but after 2 miles, I was warm enough in shorts. The only time I had an issue with the shorts was about 5 1/2 miles in when we ran up on a guy walking his unleashed dog. The dog ended up half jumping up on my legs and came quite close to scratching. I felt the claws but luckily no penetration. I get nervous when dogs jump or run up on me. The owners always say the same thing like "oh, he is playful" or "He wouldn't hurt a fly". Well, I don't know that, especially when the dog aggressively comes toward me.

We turned around just after 6 miles and headed back but we were at a very slow pace. At times the snow was coming down harder but always large flakes that didn't accumulate much, maybe a 1/2 inch on the trail which just added to the cushioning. It never stopped snowing the entire run.

We had planned to keep going after we got to the car but not after I ate a quick PB & J sandwich since I was out of GU. So we headed the other way on the trail about 3 or so miles. As we turned back toward the car again, my legs were felling very tired so Mike went a little faster as I just kept it slow and easy. I could always see him ahead of me so when we got back to the car at 18.6 miles, I could see that he had kept going. Ugh, so I kept going too. I was so ready to be done. He wanted to go 19 miles but I said, as long as we were still going, let's make it an even 20, so we did.

I had stashed some Chocolate Milk in the trunk for a nice after run treat and then we headed home. This was a nice trail and kept up pretty good so we plan on heading back. I think the trail is a total of 12 miles long so a good 24 miler would be easy to do. Nice views along the way of creeks and valleys and some farmland. No really hill except for the little railroad grade hills. A few quaint very small towns along the way too. I bet this trail is used a lot during the summer by bikers.

All in all, I was not please with my run since I tired so early but I got it done and can relax the rest of the weekend now. A little over 40 miles for the week too. I guess it wasn't too bad.

Keep on Running!!!