What cold snap?
It’s game on when the weather breaks after a prolonged cold snap that took a toll on already fragile mental health. It isn’t too long before all memories are erased that just a week ago it was -41C.
I had already declared January “crosstraining” month to work on my strengthening my glutes and hammies. Generally I wasn’t too concerned about getting in loads of mileage. I have run through so many winters that I didn’t need a “look hold cold it is” selfie for my Instagram feed. I had weights, cycling and the pool to keep me honest.
But last week Mother Nature decided to show us her sunny side and dazzled us with temperatures of +9 and higher. Like most people I took every opportunity to get outside. Oh the glorious sunshine and blue skies! I was mindful that I am recovering from recurring injuries so I didn’t push it too hard. I was happy to get in 60+ kilometres (even though my winter goal is 50k/week). I think the strength training and pool time is paying off.
Saturday saw me running in the West Bragg Creek trails on a social run. I haven’t been on that section of trails in a long time. I needed to refresh my trail memories so it was perfect timing. I get in a rut sometimes and I run the same trails over and over again. Often I am just too lazy to plan a new route.
Having company made the kilometres go by quickly. I clocked in 20 kilometres and my Garmin froze on a screen so I lost five kilometres. Later I added the missing kilometres to Strava manually. That was the first time this ever happened. I was relieved to find a solution easily on Google.
We weren’t running a terribly fast pace but I did feel my legs working and they weren’t complaining. I was so happy not to feel that buckle feeling when I run downhill. That’s part of the hamstring issue that I have been having lately (and I am working on it with the help of my chiro and physio).
I was drawn to Moose Mountain Road aka Momord on Sunday. I needed a no-brainer get it done kind of run. I didn’t want to push it and do an equal distance so I opted for a trek up the road, and a turnaround at the parking sign. Usually I like to run down to the station around the corner for those extra kilometres.
There was only one car in the lot when I arrived just before 9 a.m. I learned later it belonged to the speedy ultrarunner and vegan Don. We crossed paths on my way up and on his way down. We shared some trail running gossip and chatted about training.
I ran/hiked my way up in reasonable time. Honestly I should really warm up or something before I start on the road. I always feel sluggish for the first half an hour. The road was nicely ploughed and mostly free of ice – just packed snow. I wore my Kahtoolas for better running.
I took a measured approach running down. There were sections I could have run harder, and I know I can improve on my time in the coming weeks. Momord is usually teeming with runners on the weekends. If I go early enough, I can have most of the road to myself for at least the way up. I love the quiet, and gazing at the snow capped mountains in the distance. (This may explain why I am so slow climbing to the turnaround point.)
Do you hibernate during a cold snap? Do you focus on cross training or simply run on a treadmill. I would love to hear from you in the comments below.