Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Ice Queen

Last night after work, I decided to try my first track-less speed workout. I figured if I ran in town I would have less slippery roads to deal with, so I didn't bring my yak-trax. After a 1/2 mile warmup out the front door of my office, I turned into a residential area and started my first interval. And promptly felt like I was going to fall flat on my face. Pure ice. I immediately adjusted my goal from speedwork to (1) don't fall and (2) try to keep up a halfway decent pace. I ended up doing 4.6 miles at 9:08 pace. I almost blew goal (1) coming around a corner. My feet started to go out from under me and I had to flail my arms around to stay upright.

This morning, I woke up to a few inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. It is supposed to get really cold again tonight (below zero with nasty windchills), so I knew I better run because tonight and tomorrow morning might not happen. Three miles of three inches of snow over solid ice, with snow blowing in my face. Ahh, gotta love winter.

My back is starting to feel the running on ice. I'm prone to lower back problems anyway, so I'm always nervous about pushing it. After sitting in court for an hour this morning I stood up and could feel my lower back tightening up. I'll do some yoga tonight to see if I can loosen things up a little.

Is it spring yet?

7 comments:

BeachRunner said...

Very impressive run in icy conditions. Stay safe and good luck loosening up your back.

Marlene said...

I find winter running does a number on my whole body - I think it has something to do with keeping the muscles tight while trying not to fall on our asses! Run safe!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Running on ice is definitely a challenge! Be safe, and yes, i wish it was spring too :) Happy New Year! :D

MCM Mama said...

I'm so impressed. I didn't run a single mile outside while I was in the north.

Carly said...

Nice job just getting out there. I was slipping and sliding just trying to get in my car. I hope your back loosens up with the yoga.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on not falling - that's about all one can hope for when the conditions are this bad. And congrats, too, on your pace which is actually absurdly speedy given the weather.

I also can not WAIT for spring.

Marcy said...

Oy. I know it. I sooooo want Spring to come already *sigh* Great job on the run!!