Saturday was almost a perfect day of running for me. I did need spikes in the morning for a run down to the market, but there were only a few icy spots. I really need to make this winter's pair of screw shoes for this route.
In the afternoon I went to check out a new conservation area I'd heard about called Starkey Hill, and had one of those truly magical running experiences. I didn't really need my fake-toolah microspikes on the snowpack, but they offered really confident traction for the steeper climbs and descents, and my legs felt great! The sunset was incredible, and I enjoyed the hell out of myself. I'd seen a review saying that despite the signage there wasn't really a lookout at the highest point on the trail; clearly whoever wrote it needed to turn around and look more closely through the trees.
Sunday, though...Sunday was kinda horrible. I knew it was going to suck, but I couldn't have predicted what form the suffering was going to take. We'd been told the 422m paved path around the baseball diamond was free of snow, so at least I wouldn't have to use spikes. There was one unavoidable icy patch, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't even mind running endless loops of the path - I do a lot of short looped ultras, and there were quite a number of friends on course, so it was nice and social. Off the start, I was feeling pretty good and moving well. What ended up being awful was my right knee; there was a very minor side-slope to the paved path, and when we changed direction from clockwise to counter-clockwise (around 50mins in) the outside of my knee twinged a bit, but seemed fine. After my first 34 laps I decided to walk one, and discovered the knee wasn't happy while walking. All the while the wind was rising, gusting over 40kph across a field full of snow and through the park, which was beside a major surface road - no shelter. Three times I saw chunks of ice blown off a tree shatter on the path just a few feet in front of me. I ran 10 more laps, including another change of direction, but got a bit lightheaded and dropped to a walk again; my knee was even grouchier this time. I tried running again, but landed awkwardly with my right foot and my right ankle was suddenly super sore with each stride. I tried hunting for tight/sore stuff in my right side (glutes, quads, calves) and stretching to see if I could get the knee to ease up, but walking a couple of additional laps (which put me past half marathon distance) showed it just wanted to be a whiny jerk. I tried running one more time, but my ankle was definitely not OK, so I talked to the race director and he had no problems with me dropping down to the half...as he sat on the ground trying to stretch out some issues of his own. So, I called it at 52 laps - right around 22km - and would have stayed to cheer other people on, but the wind just blew right through us. My husband was freezing to death, too, so we bailed. Still not entirely sure how to feel about the whole thing - I'm used to running for 6+hrs and it's a bit of a blow to drop so early - but pavement SUCKS and I wasn't even the first in the full to DNF. It was a very informal event put on by and for a bunch of trail and ultrarunners, and there was a lot of carnage. I haven't done any long road runs in a few years, and I guess that bit me (and a lot of other people) in the arse.
So, going to try running on my lunch today to see how the ankle feels - knee has been responding really well to some quad & TFL work, so fingers crossed this doesn't mess with the rest of the races I have in the next couple of months.
Huge respect to fartleker for an amazing result!
__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.
In the afternoon I went to check out a new conservation area I'd heard about called Starkey Hill, and had one of those truly magical running experiences. I didn't really need my fake-toolah microspikes on the snowpack, but they offered really confident traction for the steeper climbs and descents, and my legs felt great! The sunset was incredible, and I enjoyed the hell out of myself. I'd seen a review saying that despite the signage there wasn't really a lookout at the highest point on the trail; clearly whoever wrote it needed to turn around and look more closely through the trees.
Sunday, though...Sunday was kinda horrible. I knew it was going to suck, but I couldn't have predicted what form the suffering was going to take. We'd been told the 422m paved path around the baseball diamond was free of snow, so at least I wouldn't have to use spikes. There was one unavoidable icy patch, but it wasn't too bad. I didn't even mind running endless loops of the path - I do a lot of short looped ultras, and there were quite a number of friends on course, so it was nice and social. Off the start, I was feeling pretty good and moving well. What ended up being awful was my right knee; there was a very minor side-slope to the paved path, and when we changed direction from clockwise to counter-clockwise (around 50mins in) the outside of my knee twinged a bit, but seemed fine. After my first 34 laps I decided to walk one, and discovered the knee wasn't happy while walking. All the while the wind was rising, gusting over 40kph across a field full of snow and through the park, which was beside a major surface road - no shelter. Three times I saw chunks of ice blown off a tree shatter on the path just a few feet in front of me. I ran 10 more laps, including another change of direction, but got a bit lightheaded and dropped to a walk again; my knee was even grouchier this time. I tried running again, but landed awkwardly with my right foot and my right ankle was suddenly super sore with each stride. I tried hunting for tight/sore stuff in my right side (glutes, quads, calves) and stretching to see if I could get the knee to ease up, but walking a couple of additional laps (which put me past half marathon distance) showed it just wanted to be a whiny jerk. I tried running one more time, but my ankle was definitely not OK, so I talked to the race director and he had no problems with me dropping down to the half...as he sat on the ground trying to stretch out some issues of his own. So, I called it at 52 laps - right around 22km - and would have stayed to cheer other people on, but the wind just blew right through us. My husband was freezing to death, too, so we bailed. Still not entirely sure how to feel about the whole thing - I'm used to running for 6+hrs and it's a bit of a blow to drop so early - but pavement SUCKS and I wasn't even the first in the full to DNF. It was a very informal event put on by and for a bunch of trail and ultrarunners, and there was a lot of carnage. I haven't done any long road runs in a few years, and I guess that bit me (and a lot of other people) in the arse.
So, going to try running on my lunch today to see how the ankle feels - knee has been responding really well to some quad & TFL work, so fingers crossed this doesn't mess with the rest of the races I have in the next couple of months.
Huge respect to fartleker for an amazing result!
__________________________________________________________
ill advised racing inc.