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November 30, 2004

We got a *real* cold front this time

ooooh-weeeee. I just got out of a 20-minute shower - my second of the day. On days as cold as today, my hands are pretty much numb from cold throughout my runs, even with gloves on. So when I get in the hot shower afterward it hurts to put my hands in right away. So I just stand there 'til my hands finally warm up. And then I stand there some more waiting for the courage to turn off the water.

This morning was supposed to be an easy run, but someone I knew caught me as we were both running down Lake Austin Blvd in the dark and I was grateful to have company. So I ran with her even though it was probably a little faster than I'd go on my own. The trail is still flooded so I'm having to head out into the hills, which also makes the run a little tougher than it's supposed to be! I was fortunate to finish when I did, too; as I was stretching under the bridge it started to rain pretty hard. I would have been miserable!

Tonight's workout with Steve was fartlek-ish, even though it was supposed to be a hill/interval workout. We did mile repeats in a hilly neighborhood, running hard uphill and then easy down. It was a tough run to do hard since it was pitch dark in some spots and the road wasn't entirely even. In fact, on the downhill stretch there was a cattle guard we had to cross which made me a little nervous.

I'm still a little creaky from taking time off - I think it's mostly from sitting in the car so much. Tonight my cold-numb feet also contributed to an awkward stride, too. One of my shins is sore to the touch right now, and I could feel something while I was running, but because my legs were so cold (and because it was dark) I couldn't tell if it was a problem with the muscles and tendons or whether it was the hard part of my shoelace poking into my leg. It doesn't hurt when I flex my foot, which is good, but I've never had a problem with my shoelace poking my shin before, either.

My sensory systems just kind of freak out with the cold. I remember at the start of the Tucson marathon a few years ago I felt like I had a big rock or something stuck in the bottom of my shoe for the first mile or two. I didn't; it was just that one little part of the bottom of my foot had gone numb from cold.

I love running in this cold weather!

Posted by jenandmats at November 30, 2004 9:01 PM

Comments

Hope you had a good weekend at the beach! Yeah, this is pretty cold, huh? I was freezing when I got home tonight too, though not painfully so. They say maybe snow here tonight/tomorrow. Hah! Meghan

Posted by: Meghan at November 30, 2004 9:34 PM

It was a *very* nice weekend at the beach. We had some gorgeous weather that allowed us to sit on the porch swing in the morning watching the sun rise (not the actual sunrise because that was *way* too early) over the water, which is really nice in Galveston because the sun makes the water sparkly which hides its natural brown color! Other days were pretty windy, though, so we all just huddled inside together.

I *really* like this dry, still, cold. I wish it'd be like this all winter! I have a really hard time with wind, which we've seemed to have a lot of the past two years. Even rain is better (but definitely not desireable.) Snow would be WAY cool! It's not rare there, is it?

Posted by: jenandmats at December 1, 2004 7:41 AM