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December 18, 2005
3 Degrees
This was today's high temperature today here at Mammoth, the so-called banana belt of Yellowstone National Park. Elsewhere in the park, the highs didn't even approach 10 below zero. In fact, the low temperature for last night was a shocking 37 below zero in the park's interior. And this is all before you factor in the wind chill. All I can say is that it's cold. Real cold.
Yesterday I didn't run, instead I spent the afternoon cross country skiing. What fun! It was another cold day yesterday, but we bundled up and had a great time. We did several trips around a 1.5 mile loop trail called Upper Terraces, and the snow conditions were perfect. While we were out there, we saw a coyote carrying around a dead rabbit in its mouth. Life really does go on even when it's desperately cold. This was my first foray into cross country skiing since I lived in Minnesota, but I got the hang of it again right away. It's easier than I remember, you can keep up a good pace for an extended period of time. Definitely an endurance sport, which I (naturally) like. I hope to cruise all over the place this winter on skis. Look out Yellowstone, here I come.
When I came back in from running this afternoon, my face, hat, gloves, and hair were covered with a thick layer of frost. I felt and looked like a snow monster of sorts. Even my dog had a frosty face! Despite the cold and the obscene amount of clothes I had on, I had a great run. My face did start to hurt from the cold and frost, though, after about an hour.
I'm pleased to report that my quad seems to be back to normal. The 2 days of cross training (hiking and skiing) as well as reduced mileage this week seem to have done the trick in healing it. Now I have a sore spot on the bottom of my right foot, boo. I've been rotating back and forth between the regular footbed and an orthotic footbed in my running shoes. I've left the orthotic footbed in there for over a week now, so this is the likely suspect of the sore foot. I switched them out after I got home today, so the real test will be tomorrow.
I did my "long run" for the week, about 11 miles, today. When can I officially call these runs long runs without the quotations? I'm thinking once I run for 1:30 I can call them long runs again. Well, I almost made it today, 1:29 and pocket change for about 11 miles. I ran on the road out of Mammoth that's currently closed. They are preparing for snowmobile season, which will open in about 5 days, and this road will open again then for snowmobiles. For now, it's a snow-packed deserted road that climbs and climbs and climbs out of Mammoth. I don't think I'll be able to run on it once snowmobile season starts, since they are supposedly wild and crazy on the roads, so I enjoyed this spot while I could. It was wonderful to climb up high and to see one snow-covered mountain peak after another fill my horizon. Animals spotted included elk and a huge herd of bison that was using the road to walk. They officially turned me around, but I was only 1 minute from my scheduled turn-around time anyhow. I ran 46:15 on the way up, turned around and came down, and finished at about 1:29. The Yaktrax continue to be wonderful pieces of machinery for my feet. I feel as stable as ever out there and I can keep up the pace that I want for the most part. My dog, however, sans Yaktrax, is a funny sight, slipping and sliding all over the road. It makes me laugh and she's good-natured about it.
Well, I ended up with a measely 27 miles for this week in 5 days of running. That's sad. I did cross train 4 days (2 days hiking, 1 day skiing, and 1 day on the indoor bike trainer), though. In the last month or so, it seems that I've been alternating between a good running week and a bad running week. Say, 35-40 miles alternating with about 25 miles a week. From here out I want to try to keep all my weeks over 40 miles. Even if there's other fun stuff like skiing and hiking and biking and other cross training to do, I want to stick with the running. I'm lucky that I'm going to be spending some time in some phenomenal places to run during January (northern California and Hawaii), so I'd like to be in shape to enjoy those places. I'm counting on this blog and its readers to help keep me honest (that's you)!
Posted by Meghan at December 18, 2005 6:16 PM
Comments
3 degrees! Way too cold for me. Lucky you, getting to go to Hawaii and Northern California! Stay warm!!
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at December 18, 2005 7:44 PM